The Sound of Four
by Kaytahn Rivers
Summary: Martha was never my favorite character so I thought, what if we had a character that fit season 3 a little better? The Doctor has just lost Rose and Donna has said no... Never again will he take a companion... until he finds a Gallifreyan signal from Earth and finds an unexpected friend.
1. Prologue

**A/N: I like Martha as a character but I did feel there was a lot left to be desired and after a lot of imagining, Kathryn Jones came to mind. She has her own personality quirks and is not meant in any way to feel like Martha. It is meant to be canon if we had Kath instead of Martha. And, of course, I own nothing.**

* * *

The Sound of Four

Prologue

_"Find Someone… Sometimes I think I think you just need someone to stop you…"_

_"Her name was Rose…"_

The Doctor sighed looking around the empty TARDIS. He didn't blame Donna for turning down his offer to run away. But, he couldn't do Christmas dinner again. It was so domestic. But, if he was being completely honest with himself he'd admit that it was more to do with the hole Rose had left when she was ripped from his life only days ago. Donna had made him laugh and smile again. _"Find someone…"_ He wouldn't. He _couldn't_. Not again. Never again…

He decided to settle in to work on some repairs on the TARDIS as she circled the Earth on this Christmas night. She was still a bit fussy after all that flying that he'd done chasing Donna down the freeway. After only a few hours the Doctor had managed to repair three of her power converters that had burnt out and clean up a bit of the wiring that was frankly getting out of hand with its tangles.

Suddenly the Doctor whipped his head to look down the corridor leading to the rest of the ship. Was that laughter? No, ghost of a memory. He shook himself; he needed to get out, now, have an adventure, get out of here and not dwell. No, dwelling was never good. Running, running was good.

Out of nowhere the TARDIS started blaring a warning, flashing red lights on the console. "Oh thank you!" He reached out a hand and used it to place a kiss on the glowing column in the center. "What have we now?" Quickly the Doctor read the circling Gallifreyan text across the view screen.

"An alien signal. From Earth? Oh, a little Scottish town, how quaint." He looked down as though he could see the Earth spinning beneath his TARDIS. He continued to read "A Gallifreyan signal from Earth?" That wasn't possible. His people were dead. All of them. "Well let us go take a look!"


	2. The Other TARDIS pt 1

**A/N: Roses are red, violets are blue. I don't own this, and probably neither do you. ;) Horizontal lines indicate a change in point of view between the Doctor and Kath.**

* * *

1: The Other TARDIS

Kath kept her hands tucked in the pockets of her jeans. It was warm enough in her sturdy brown leather jacket and black sweater but her hands were feeling the bite. Her breath fogged the air before her. It was a dark night, the moon hidden behind some cloud cover. Street lamps were on here and there. She relished the thud-thud her boots were making on the paving stones and the bite in the air. There was nothing as refreshing about the solitude of the night. No pretending to be okay, no hiding the past, none of it.

She turned sharply. There was a noise ten meters off to her left, but looking back she saw nothing. Kath sighed, fine day to leave her sword behind. She'd trained a long time to know you could never take safety for granted anywhere even in a sleepy little town such as this.

She heard the noise again. It was like sharp claws being dragged against stone; still she saw nothing. Kath's breathing quickened. She wasn't scared. Wary, definitely wary.

Kath let out an _oof_ as she hit the ground hard. A weight was over top her now, pinning her down. It appeared the shadow had lept out right after her and was a great snarling beast, almost wolf-like, but with a black swirling mist. Though, all of that was lost on her amidst the snarly teeth trying to get at her throat. She put out both hands and grabbed at its neck, kicked her leg up under it's belly and threw it off. She rolled away, panting, as a second shadow-wolf creature leapt from the shadows. Now she was in trouble.

She stared both creatures down. Kath didn't recognize them at all, alien she suspected; there were no such creatures on Earth, even in the twenty-first century. She put a hand to her shoulder reaching for the hilt of her sword before remembering it wasn't there. In that moment the creatures started to back up, whining and whimpering, heads down. What... Then she heard it, an odd whiring/buzz sound. The kind of sound she knew only belonged to a sonic screwdriver.

A tall man emerged from the shadows, holding the blue, glowing device and having a huge grin as the creatures darted off. He wore a suit and long brown coat. He tucked the screwdriver into one pocket. "Magnificent creatures, the tatari. Wouldn't you agree?"

"I would actually. Melding with the shadows? Awesome stuff. I was less fond of their long claws and sharp teeth, but who can complain? Thanks for the assist." He cocked an eyebrow at her, though seemed more amused than anything. "Care for a walk? No one else down this lane."

"Brilliant," said the man. "I'm the Doctor."

Kath smirked. "Then I'm Archive."

"Archive?" the man asked. "What sort of name is that?"

"Well, what sort of name is 'The Doctor?'"

"Aw, what's wrong with doctors? They make people better an' all that."

"So, do you then? Make people better?"

The Doctor just smiled. He swung into step beside her and they started strolling casually down the old lane. The Doctor tucked his hands in the pockets of his long brown coat and started whistling. "So, Ms. Archive, what brings you out here on a cold post-Christmas night?"

"Missus," she corrected automatically. "Widow, though, I suppose."

The Doctor hmmd. "Young, aren't you, to be married and a widow?"

"Or perhaps I'm older than I look. Which you should know all about, looking into your eyes. You appear youthful, but your eyes say something far more."

"Maybe," he said simply. "Archive is a myth, you know."

"Oh?"

"There was a woman where I'm from. They called her Archive. She healed thousands of my people in this great war. But, she wasn't real."

"How can you be sure?" Kath couldn't help but smile.

"Well," he said, "I think sometimes people just want to believe in miracles in hopeless situations."

"Do you believe in miracles, Doctor?"

"I believe in people and the amazing things they can accomplish," he told her solemnly.

She smiled then. "Call me Kath. Kathryn Jones.

* * *

The Doctor gave Kath a sidelong look. She was acting very peculiarly. First to not be scared off by the creatures; he'd seen her look though when he'd called them 'tatari.' She knew that wasn't right. And, now she was strolling along with a complete stranger completely comfortably.

"Are you from New York?" he asked, she definitely had an accent.

"New York?"

"Well, your accent is American, I'd say. And, you are wearing only a jacket and jumper going for a walk when it's very cold. I'd guess you were used to it. The cold, that is." They continued down the old cobble lane. It was a sleepy little town. He wondered how she had come to be here.

"Ah, well, I enjoy the cold, and I have been to New York but goodness it's been ages. Anyway, what brings you here, Doctor?" Snow began to fall catching in her dark hair. Her eyes almost glowed in the moonlight. It was a little unsettling.

"Oh, bit of a stop through really. I was having some strange readings and decided to come check it out."

"Strange, how?" she asked. She sounded casual but the Doctor could just sense something under the surface, some wariness.

He decided to throw it out there and see how she reacted. "Just some strange alien tech. Know anything about it?"

"Oh, I dunno. I might. Think you can explain what the 'tatari' are doing out here?"

His interest was definitely piqued now. She wasn't afraid of the shadow creatures, didn't balk at the mention of alien tech, and did not seem the least bit concerned whether the shadow creatures would come back. The Doctor definitely wanted to learn more about what she was doing here."Maybe. What do you know?"

"Ah, it's best if I show you."

She turned left at the next junction and then stopped before a small stone building. Library, the sign proudly read out front. "Ah, a good little library, where better to find information. Though," he checked an imaginary watch, "maybe not at 2:33 in the morning the day after Christmas."

"Oh, it all depends on who you know, really." She led him to a path around the side. Up a flight of stone steps that were cut into the back of the building led up to a second floor with a thick wooden door. Kath opened it to a cozy little living room.

"Who lives here, then?" he asked, though he had already guessed.

"Me." She flicked on a lamp and was finally completely revealed to him. She did look as young as he had suspected. Mid to late twenties oldest. Thick wavy brown hair trailed down her back. Her skin was creamy and flawless. Her eyes were a bright silver-grey, but as she had mentioned with him, there was something old in her eyes. Like, he may be looking at someone who appeared young, but inside she was not so inexperienced and innocent.

"Come on. My home is not nearly fascinating enough. What is truly interesting lies downstairs."

"What's down there?" he asked.

"The library. Obviously," but there was a mischievous gleam in her eyes that had him very curious indeed. Kath could be leading him to a trap, after all. But that only made it more exciting to follow her. She led him to a closet in the far corner of the main room. It was dark and empty. She stepped inside and held out her hand. "Well come on then. Scared of small, dark room, with a pretty girl?"

"You have no idea," he told her and took her hand. The minute he stepped inside, the door closed and the floor dropped beneath them, but they were held aloft by some sort of force.

"Anti-grav tube in your closet," he said conversationally. "Handy. Might be interesting if someone happened to wander into it, though."

"Have issues with people wandering into your closets, Doctor?"

He shrugged innocently as she pushed something and they dropped quickly, the air whooshing around them. And, just as suddenly as they dropped, they halted. He stepped out after her and found himself in a massive underground corridor. "Welcome to the Library. I'm the librarian. It's not terribly impressive, but it's a work in progress."

The Doctor looked around him. There were hundreds of shelves, carrying thousands of books. Scattered about were artifacts, mostly alien tech, some earlier human stuff as well though.

She leaned casually against a shelf. "I suspect you'll find whatever it is that's giving off your strange reading somewhere around here."

He was already off, taking out his glasses, and examining a nearby piece. "This is an early Kersha Time Map." Kath mhmmd but the Doctor was already off on the next thing mumbling about this and that. He'd taken out his sonic screwdriver now and was checking some diagnostic or other.

"Doctor," Kath said quietly. "We need to talk." The change in her tone drew his attention now. "See, I've been around a bit. Nothing like you I'm sure, but I do know a few things. Such as, I know tatari are a peaceful race from the eighth moon of Katla, and look like little gollums, not giant snarling wolves. That out there wasn't something I've come across before. And, now it's running amok in this sleepy little town where nothing exciting happens at all."

"Well, with all of your alien tech down here, maybe it's your fault."

"Most likely," she admitted. "Are you familiar with those creatures? You scared them away easily enough."

"They looked like wolves, acted like wolves. All I did was turn my handy-dandy little sonic screwdriver here to emit a sound that is disagreeable to wolves."

"But," Kath said, "They weren't wolves."

"No. They weren't." The Doctor turned to Kath. "So, who are you really? Why do you have all of this alien technology stored underground?" She looked to be about to speak when suddenly all lights went out in the large underground room and thunder rolled.

* * *

"That's not possible." Kath said. "Thunder? It's December and freezing out there, not exactly thunderstorm weather."

"And, yet we have a thunderstorm," the Doctor said as thunder roared so loud it shook the room. There were no windows in the space, so the lightning couldn't illuminate the utterly pitch black room. Kath felt around on her right boot until she grasped the small metal object she kept attached to the outside and undid the buckles. She flicked her sonic screwdriver on, it made a low hum and glowed silver-blue in the gloom.

The Doctor's expression was unreadable. "Now, where did you get that?"

Kath shrugged. "A friend gave it to me ages ago." She didn't want to elaborate any more. She couldn't.

"Who gave it to you?" he persisted.

"Just some gal. You don't look a gift horse in the mouth and all that. Like I said, was ages ago." She hoped it would be enough to satisfy him for now.

"Who are you really, Kathryn Jones?" his normally friendly tone had dropped and now was very suspicious.

"I could ask the same of you, Doctor. What are you doing here, scanning for foreign signals anyway?" The challenge in her tone was unmistakable.

A low, threatening growl interrupted them. Kath suspected she knew the source. Who was this Doctor? Could he be a Time Agent? Or, even an agent from the Shadow Proclamation? No. No, she'd heard the sound. She suspected she knew exactly what he was and that made him very dangerous to her. She had to get away.

"This way!" she called to him, hurrying down a row of shelves. She knew the place by heart, after all she'd put every artifact in here. Right at the end… Kath slammed her hand down on the switch. There was a tang on the air as the Doctor was teleported out. She only wished she had something to wipe recent memory too, but relocating him would have to do.

Kath ran down the main aisle and laid her hand on a hidden panel. She could hear the snarling wolves behind her and the thunder still shook the shelves but she knew none of it was real. A door clicked open revealing a room the size of a bedroom. The object in the room stood proudly, if sadly. Kath walked up and laid her head against the wood. "You're okay," she whispered. "You're okay…" The threatening sounds around her completely ceased and a calm blanketed the space once more. They were not safe, though, she knew, not while a Time Lord was looking for them.

* * *

The Doctor groaned as he sat up. He _hated _teleportation fields and the one Kath had zapped him with had been primitive at best. He had known better than to follow her down but a nagging voice in the back of his mind reminded him that there were several dangerous bits of alien technology down there. That Teyla Immobilizer he'd seen alone, for example, was enough to stop his hearts, and he suspected Kath knew how to use the items in her 'library.' She hadn't wanted to hurt him but she was afraid of him. The question was why.

He looked around. The Doctor was on a rocky beach… somewhere. It had to be a low grade teleportation from what he glimpsed of it which meant that he hadn't been taken far. Putting his back to the ocean, he began walking in the direction he suspected his TARDIS would be. It was still dark though there was a hazing to the air now, the night had reached it's point of being closer to sunrise than sundown. Dawn would only be a couple hours out now.

Why had Kath taken him down to her library in the first place? He contemplated as he continued to walk. The Doctor could see lights now of the town where he had been previously. What was she doing with a sonic screwdriver in her possession? Why was she collecting technology that wasn't from Earth or even from this time period? So many questions and only Kath could answer them.

It did not take long to find her. Perched on a short stone column, sitting perfectly still in the cold, was Kath, legs folded under the sky that was slowly turning from black to blue. Not hiding from him then, he decided. She had sent him away to buy herself some time. Time for what exactly?

"Teleportation," he called, walking up. "Really nasty business. Doesn't hurt, but leaves a disgusting metallic taste in your mouth."

"Ah," she replied, "This I have heard. Sorry about that." Kath really did look a bit contrite. "Walk with me?" she said, standing. "No more teleportation, promise."

"How about some answers then," he said, sliding into step beside her. "Who are you Kath? Why do you carry a sonic screwdriver? What are you hiding in your library?"

She started counting under her breath. "One… two… three… four…"

"What are you…?"

"One-two… three-four… One-two… three-four…"

It dawned on him then exactly what she was doing. "You're counting the beating of my hearts. That's not possible. Humans can't hear beating hearts from this distance." The Doctor looked into her strange silver eyes.

"Time Lord," she said quietly. "What are you doing here?"

"How did you…?"

"I know two hearts when I hear them. The sound of four. Four beats… One… two… three… four. It's been a long time since I've seen one of your people."

He sighed then. "And you'll never see another. I'm the last of the Time Lords."

Kath stopped to look at him and the Doctor followed suit. The sun was lighting the sky pink. It would be a beautiful day, if a bit cold. "The last? But how? There were billions of your people. The oldest race in the universe. You could survive anything."

"Anything but a war," he said quietly.

"The Time War? Look, last I checked it's not that the Time Lords were necessarily winning but the Daleks are not _that_ impressive, not to take out all of the Time Lords. They couldn't be gone," she said sadly.

He listened then, really listened. His hearing was good enough that he could hear her heart too. And that was all he heard: heart, singular. How did she know so much about his people? Could she possibly be?

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned her up and down. Kath put her hand over the device. "Don't. You'll only be disappointed. I'm not a Time Lord. I'm sorry, Doctor. I didn't know."

"How do you know so much about my people?" he asked sadly.

"I lived with them for a time. But, that's a story and a half," Kath laughed.

* * *

Kath's heart broke a little as she watched the sadness creep into the Doctor's eyes, watched that little hope die. He quickly tried to bury it away but she could still feel it in the heaviness of his shoulders. It was as though weight of the entire universe rested upon his shoulders. And, the Time Lords dead? Her heart broke at that.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she told him, laying a hand on his arm.

"So!" he suddenly said. "That doesn't solve the mystery that is you."

Kath dropped her hand. "I'm sorry, Doctor, but I don't trust you. I don't know you. Your people were a noble race… but they descended into a darker place during that war. I don't know what sort of Time Lord you are." She wondered if he would would realize that she was subtly leading them opposite of the library. Kath had been able to shut down the distress signal being sent out but it would take a vast amount of energy to relocate, energy she just wasn't sure if the girl had any more.. It was nearing the time to say goodbye. Maybe the Doctor could help in this endeavor if he truly was as noble as he seemed to think he was.

The Doctor looked at her a long time seeming to decide something. "Would you allow me?" he asked, holding out his hands. Kath realized he was wanting to look into her mind. She balked. There were things she just wasn't ready to share. "I promise I just want to show you, help you trust me," he quickly assured her. "You can close your mind off so I can't even go in, if you like."

This was stupid. There was no guarantee he was one of the 'nice' Time Lords but something in her wanted to trust him. Sighing she nodded and lowered her head as he brought a hand to each side, fingers on her temple, he lowered his head to, not quite touching hers.

Warmth enveloped her mind. His presence was slow, calm, kind. "We cannot lie with this communication," he told her aloud. Then his words became much smoother and she realized they weren't spoken aloud. _I don't want to lie to you or trick you. I only want to help, Kathryn. Please. _Kath let out a long breath and dropped the barriers she had put up so he could show her what he wanted to.

_The Doctor stood in the middle of a ship. The console glowed a blue-green shining brightly in the center of the round room talking excitedly to someone. _The scene shifted. _It was a different day, she could tell, something felt different. A woman was on board, Ida her name was, he'd just saved her. _Faces flashed in her mind's eyes, people, world's this Doctor had saved. People he'd cared about.

Kath opened her mind a little farther and suddenly her mind was flooded with an image. _The Doctor was again in the console room, a woman was with him, young, blonde. They were both laughing loudly. Happiness permeated her entire being watching. Love glowed in her warm brown eyes as she looked at the Doctor. The trust and love between these two was beyond compare._

The Doctor gasped and pulled away, Kath along with him. "How did you do that?" he panted.

"Do what?"

"I didn't show you that memory. How did you find it?"

"Sorry, a little telepathic," she looked sheepish. "Who is she?"

The Doctor ran both hands down his face. "Her name was Rose," his voice was rough when he said it. The _was_ concerned her. "And, before you ask, she did trust me." Oh, Kath didn't doubt it. She'd _felt_ the connection between them. No one could doubt that.

Kath took a deep breath. "Alright then, Doctor. I need your help."


	3. The Other TARDIS pt 2

They both looked up around them and noticed their surroundings for the very first time. "Wait, where are we?" Kath asked him. In truth the Doctor did not know. They were in a dark hallway. There were small silver lights along the walls, casting the only illumination. Somehow they had been transported while he was showing her some memories.

Recognition sparked in Kath's eyes then. "Ah, clever girl. I guess she now trusts you too. Come Doctor, it's time you met someone very special." She walked forward a few feet and placed her hand against a hidden panel in one wall and a door slid back.

A small room was revealed. Standing in the center was a wooden shed, maybe seven feet tall. It didn't look remarkable but he could feel the power emanating from it. Kath walked slowly over to it and placed her hand reverently on the wood. "I'm sorry about the wolves and the thunder. She was just growling, just protecting herself." Kath inserted a small key and opened the door.

"TARDIS," the Doctor breathed, stepping inside. She felt a little different than his TARDIS but he could still feel her voice. It was fading now, though. The column in the center glowed a blue-white but the light was faint. "She's dying," he said quietly looking around. The walls appeared to be a darker wood, silver threaded through here and there almost looking like vines creeping up tall columns. The console around the crystal was mostly a brushed silver.

"I've done everything I know to do, Doctor." Kath pulled out her sonic screwdriver and scanned it over the console. From the dim glow of the console he got a better look at the device. It was made up mostly of the same wood that the walls around him were. It, too, had silver threading intricately along throughout; the tip glowed like the color of the crystal column. The Doctor had found the 'friend' who'd given it to her.

"Whose TARDIS is it?"

"Mine," she said automatically.

"Whose _was _it?" he corrected.

A deep sadness crept into her eyes. "It was my husband's."

"You were married to a _Time Lord_?" At least that explained how she knew they had two hearts. What Time Lord married a human?

"Does your husband have a name?" Kath had subtly pulled her left hand away. A simple silver band was on her ring finger. He just caught the barest glance at Gallifreyan writing etched into it but didn't catch what it said. Wedding band, he assumed, human custom.

"He did, yes," Kath said. "Doctor, I don't know what to do for her. I've tried everything to fix her, but she's dying now. The last trip we took drained her power and left us stranded. I did what I could to get her somewhere safe. We ended up here. I've spent many years trying to fix her."

"How long have you been stuck here?" He examined the console.

"...A while," she said quietly. "I promise to explain myself one day, but please help this TARDIS now."

The Doctor smiled gently. "Let's see what we can do."

* * *

Kath was taking a risk revealing so much about herself to the Doctor. The Time Lords had not taken well to others being on their world. Even during the war this was not something they would have been happy to know. It was the main reason she'd always kept hidden exactly what she was. If the Doctor betrayed her and turned her in now, though, it would be worth it if he helped the TARDIS.

_Turn her into whom? _The thought wiggled its way into her head. The people of Gallifrey could not be gone. Kath snapped her attention back to the Doctor who seemed to be speaking to her, or maybe just to thin air, with this man it was hard to tell.

"She appears intact but the very soul of her is drained. The equipment looks well enough but we'll have to go to the hearts of her to really see. Is this what you've been collecting all that alien tech for? Blimey, this could be interesting. Come along then." He led her to the hallway that branched off the Control Room.

The floor was a rubbery tread, the walls that same dark wood, with the silver still trailing along leading the way. Kath had lived aboard the TARDIS for multiple centuries. When her husband was there, the ship looked very different. She had redecorated when Kath lived there alone. They had spent so very long together, Kath trying to fix and save her. The TARDIS had provided her with everything she could and Kath had given everything back that she had.

Most of the rooms were gone now, being deleted as she lost more and more energy. Kath's bedroom was still on the right but they walked past it, heading deeper into the ship. A room Kath did not remember came up on their left. She had been fairly convinced they were alone until a man walked out of that new room. A man she recognized. "No… no, you're dead!"

She had accidentally backed into the Doctor trying to get away who held her gently. "Who is this?"

"My husband," Kath said darkly, finally drawing the sword she carried on her back.

The Doctor snapped a look at her. "Have you always carried a sword?"

"Low level perception filter in the sheath. No one notices it until I wave it about. You wanted a name for my husband? How about a face instead?"

"Miss me?" the intruder cooed.

She brandished the sword at him. "You were dead. I made sure."

"Oh, I see you two get on well then," the Doctor said.

Her husband looked at her. "Oh Kitty-Kat-"

She growled. "Never call me that!"

"My dear, come now. Put down the sword. We both know it's only good against creatures like the Daleks. That's a mech-sword; doesn't work on organics."

Kath did, sliding the metal hand and a half sword into the leather case on her back. "What can I say? Daleks or worse and it automatically comes out."

"Oh, I'm flattered. Want to see mine?"

"Not really, been there done that, wasn't impressed," Kath replied.

The Doctor put a hand on her arm and whispered quietly in her ear. "There's something not right here. I cannot sense him. If he really was a Time Lord, I'd know it. But, beyond that I can't even feel his living presence, the energy that a normal person gives off."

Kath noticed it then, too. She sighed and withdrew her sonic this time, shifted the setting, and pointed it at him. "Perhaps another time then!" he told her, and disappeared.

"Defense protocol 6," Kath stated. "She's just protecting herself as always. I suspect, Doctor, we are about to face our worst fears. Which, considering the history I sense we both have, should be interesting."

* * *

His worst fears coming to life? Hmm, this was probably not a good idea then. He did not see much choice, though, really, so they continued down the corridor. Kath walked ahead of him. She was definitely more tense than she'd been before the run-in with the man. She had tried to kill a Time Lord, and apparently succeeded. He was not entirely sure how he felt about that. He wanted to be angry but that seemed to make him a hypocrite. She'd killed one… He'd killed them all.

The Doctor looked at the sword slung across her back. It was probably only two feet long at best and just a couple inches wide, held in a leather sheath strapped across her body. The hilt was simple with the only adornment being a small moon stone imbedded in the pommel.

"I've not heard of a 'mech sword,'" he said conversationally.

Kath's shoulders dropped slightly. "I designed it. It will not cut or even hit organic material, only non-organic, so I nicknamed it a mech sword." She pulled it out and took aim at her left hand and swung. The Doctor rushed forward to stop her but it just harmlessly passed through her skin. She spied a Dalek bearing down on them, one of their fears he presumed. Kath twirled, bringing the sword down. It neatly cut the Dalek down before it could even finish it's first 'exterminate!'

"I don't like hurting anyone, so I don't want a weapon that can." She slid it back onto her back. "I never actually designed it to be a weapon really, just defense. And, I'm supposed to give it to someone."

"Who?"

"Dunno, but I'm sure I'll know 'em when I find 'em."

"You carry a sword every day because you need to give it to someone but you don't know who or when?" he asked.

"Pretty much."

He tilted his head. "How long have you carried it?"

"I guess it's been... Well, a long time," she said. "Ah, here we are. TARDIS heart, well one of them. Her other heart is beneath the console on the control room, but I know that one is working. Like a Time Lord, I'm guessing she needs both functioning."

"Yes, we cannot function on one, and neither can she," the Doctor told her. They were probably a couple of floors directly below the other heart now. He wasn't entirely sure how Kath knew where she was, long practice or she could feel it, either way she walked straight through a wall and into a room.

He followed her through and pulled on his glasses as he began to examine the room around them. Kath was correct in her guess that it wasn't working. There were coils all around the room, they should have been pulsing and creating an energy field that was very much alive. This room was dark and cold. He could see some scarring right through the center of the room. An explosion had rocked through the place. The Doctor wondered how long she'd held on for. Far too long, he thought, putting a hand on one of the burnt out coils. He dropped his head. "I'm so sorry, Kath. There's nothing that can be done."

He saw Kath swallow down the emotion she must have been feeling and knelt to lay her hand over the scar in the middle of the room, stroking it gently. There were tears in the woman's eyes when she turned to him next. "What can we do? We can't just leave her here. Could we send her back to the time vortex where she belongs?"

"If we could, she would implode from the pressure," he told her sadly.

"Better than dying a slow death here, rotting away. She deserves more respect than that."

He sighed and nodded. "Alright. Let me get my TARDIS. We could give her a boost of power from mine to yours to get her going, like jumping a car. Except not really because it's time energy we're transferring through two sentient ancient ships… nevermind."

The Doctor turned to where the door should be and was met with himself. "The hero," he heard his other self say. "Always acting the hero, when you're really dealing in death. Tell me, when you close your eyes do you still hear yourself screaming her name when she was pulled from your life?"

"Doctor, don't listen to him. Defense protocol 6 remember? It's just your worst fear come to life," Kath said.

"Yes," the other Doctor purred. "Your worst fear would be yourself wouldn't it? The one person you aren't entirely sure you can predict or control. You bring people close to you and then they get torn down again. Let them fall in love with you… and give them _nothing_."

He was right of course. It was exactly what he had done to Rose. He had taken her from the life that she knew and selfishly taken her with him. She had gave him back his worth after he killed them all that day, given him something to live for again. And, in return he had gotten her trapped on some parallel world because he selfishly let her stay with him when he knew better. The Doctor began to shut down as his double laughed.

Kath was behind him, though he'd not heard her move. She gripped his upper arm. "You can't listen to him. People aren't forced to fall in love with you. Life, adventure, laughter, heroics, these are what we fall in love with a person over. A single day _lived_ is better than a lifetime existing. Giving someone that day and experiencing it for yourself is _never _worth regretting."

He turned then to look into her eyes. He saw the compassion and kindness there. The understanding. The Doctor deftly reached into his pocket, pulled out his sonic screwdriver, and flicked it on. His double disappeared. Kath held his gaze a moment longer.

"Right then," he said. Let's get to my TARDIS."

* * *

Kath and the Doctor made their way back to his TARDIS in no time; he'd not parked far from town. The Doctor inserted his key and swung open the door. "Welcome aboard!"

"Oh, it's bigger on the inside," Kath commented innocently. Of course she knew it would be but it still made a huge smile spread across the old Time Lord's face. She liked it. The center column was a blue-green. It looked much rougher than her TARDIS, but reminded her very much of the Doctor. It was the same room she'd seen in his memories. Warmth was here. Life. She felt the TARDIS breathing around her, she'd forgotten how good that felt.

The Doctor energetically ran around the console throwing a few switches and the rotor started its up and down movement. They were in flight now, Kath knew. He landed them expertly right next to her TARDIS. She took out her key and opened the door. The Doctor handed her cables that looked suspiciously like jumper cables. "Attach these to the console. It should give her the spark she needs. Just a little bit of huon energy transfer."

Following the Doctor's orders she had it rigged up in no time. He flicked a switch on his TARDIS and the silver-blue column began to glow brightly for the first time in over a century. It brought tears to Kath's eyes once again. She detached the cable and led it back to the great blue police box.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" the Doctor asked her.

She nodded solemnly. "She deserves to be where she was at her best, and I won't risk anyone on Earth finding her." With that she turned to head back to the old girl.

"What are you doing?" the Doctor said, alarmed.

"I'm going into the time vortex with her. I'm not just going to send her in and walk away." For Kath, this was the equivalent to holding a dying person's hand as they passed on. This old ship was the closest to a friend she'd had. She wouldn't let herself get close to anyone, she'd felt too keenly what it was like to have and to lose.

"Kathryn, you can't. You'll die."

"No, I won't. Her shields will be down, you can transport me onto your TARDIS before she…" Kath didn't finish.

The Doctor's voice was rough. "That is extremely dangerous. I have to chase you into the time vortex and time the transport perfectly. You would put that kind of faith in me?"

Kath looked at him from across the console room. "I trust you, Doctor." With that she turned, walked out the doors, and into her TARDIS.

"Ready, Doctor?" she told him through the intercom system.

"Always am."

"Let's go!" she called.

"I've got one better: Allons-y!" Simultaneously they flicked a switch and both time rotors began to oscillate, one shining blue-green, the other silver-blue. "How is she holding?"

"She's doing okay for now." Her TARDIS glowed more brightly than it had in so long. She looked _alive._ The beautiful ship of time and space had missed this. "Oh, Doctor, I wish you could see this."

Suddenly the second heart of the ship failed and the power drained dangerously. "Kath you have to get out of there now!" The Doctor's voice was urgent.

"I can't leave her yet!" The light in the center console was beginning to dim. Kath pulled the wedding band from her left hand and laid it on the console. The etched Gallifreyan words caught the slowly dimming light.

"You have to go! Now!"

Kath placed her hand on the crystal column. "Stay with me old girl… always…" she whispered. Suddenly the whole room glowed with a silver light. It was more beautiful than anything Kath had ever seen. This was the true heart of the TARDIS. It was dim comparatively and barely hanging on, but it was still so beautiful. "Live with me."

A force more powerful than anything Kath had ever felt hit her, flooding her. She gasped with memories of the ancient ship, with her very soul. And, then she knew no more.

* * *

The TARDIS shook as the explosion hit her. The Doctor looked to the center of the console room where Kath should be. He flicked one more switch, hoping against hope… And there, a shining silver light, Kath appeared. He raced forward and caught her as she fell. He turned a dial with his free hand, flipped three switches, and they were off to safety.

The Doctor looked down at the woman who slowly pulled herself up, supporting her own weight. He sucked in a deep breath when he looked into her eyes. Her normally bright grey eyes were shining with a silver energy behind them.

"Kath… what have you done?"

"I've taken the heart of that TARDIS within me, so that she might live on, for as long as I do."

"But you can't sustain that sort of power!"

Kath closed her eyes and when she opened them again they were back to their normal color, the power buried within her. "No, it was merely piece of her soul that I absorbed, the one heart. And, even then it was fading at the time. I only caught the last essence of her life, none of the raw power. I am safe, and as much as I could manage, so is she."

* * *

The Doctor leaned against his beloved police call box and looked out at Kath. She was kneeling on a Scottish cliff face overlooking the roaring ocean. The sun had fully risen now, shining brightly in the sky. Kath was so still, leather jacket unzipped and catching in the wind, sheathed sword on her back, small bag laying beside her, brown hair braided. She was saying a silent goodbye to the ship she had loved so much, he knew.

After some time, he walked over and knelt beside her. "What'll you do now?" he asked gently.

Kath didn't take her eyes of the horizon. "I don't know," she told him. "I resigned my position at the little library in town and flooded the giant library that I had collected underground, after melting down or burning what should never be found."

"Where's the rest of your things?"

She glanced at her bag, then herself, and finally her gaze rested on him. "This is all I have. She was my home, my life, my purpose. I'm honestly not sure what to do now."

The girl looked so utterly lost in that moment. A pair of broken, lost travelers they were. And, besides, he hadn't really found out how she knew all that she did. The Doctor stood and reached a hand down to her. "Come with me?"

Kath looked into his eyes. After a moment she smiled and took his hand. "Anywhere, Doctor."


	4. Smith and Jones

**A/N: Chapter 2 a little early because I am impatient. There should be around 17 chapters in total. I still own nothing but get to enjoy everything.**

* * *

2: Smith and Jones

Kath glanced around the control room of the Doctor's TARDIS. It felt good to be on board. It was warm and alive. Her TARDIS took a happy breath within her.

His ship had a very organic feel to it with its coral-like columns, round nodules in the walls, and blue-green glowing glass center. Then as if to counterbalance this, the floor was a metal grating, the console full of buttons and wires with a modern view screen.

She spied a coat rack in the corner near the door and pulled her leather jacket and sword off. "Do you mind?" she asked.

"Mind what?" the Doctor asked, pulling his brown trench coat off and throwing it over a column. "Oh, look, a coat rack! I wonder when she put that in?" he mused. He seemed to notice her standing around, looking a bit lost. "Are you tired? We were up most of the night."

"Ah, no, not particularly. I only need to sleep a few hours a week, really," she told him.

"Huh. Need to eat much?"

Kath smiled at that. "I promise not to eat up all your food."

"It's the bananas I'm really protective of." The Doctor turned back to the console. "Well, feel free to go claim a room to put your stuff in. Pick any one you like; they're that way." He vaguely gestured but Kath was comfortable exploring.

She did not travel far down the corridor before coming to a door ajar on her left. It was a simple white wood with a small flower drawn in pink near eye level. A rose, she realized. It wasn't really her taste but Kath pushed the door open.

This room had obviously been occupied recently. It looked like a normal bedroom, just a bed, dresser, and bureau. The TARDIS was capable of far more than that if you knew to ask. The dresser still had some makeup left on top. The bed was unmade, the coverlet made of tasteful pinks and dark blues. She shouldn't be in here, but curiosity had gotten the better of her.

Half a glass of water sat on the nightstand with two hoop earrings next to it, but it was the framed pictures there that drew Kath forward. The first was of the girl, Rose, he had called her. Her blonde hair was all done up and she wore a fancy dress and a broad smile. Standing behind her looking particularly grumpy was a man with close-cropped dark hair, big ears, and an intense gaze. Kath picked up the second. It was the girl again in jeans and a hoodie this time, hair flowing freely, leaning gently against the Doctor in his brown pinstriped suit. A smile played at his lips.

Suddenly the room dropped away from Kath and she was standing on a cold, rocky beach. Rose, the blonde woman watched her warily, wearing a black jacket. "Who are you?" Rose asked.

"Kath," she told the woman. "Where are we?"

"It looks like a beach," she stated obviously. Kath wasn't sure if Rose was being cheeky with her or not. But then she continued. "I'm not sure where we really are. What're you doing here?"

Kath ignored that, bothered by a more pressing question. "You're Rose, right? HisRose? The Doctor's." How was she possibly seeing her? "Are you dead?" Kath tried to ask it genty.

"No. I'm trapped in a world parallel to his, to the Doctor's. I cannot get back to him," her sadness was palpable.

"But, I can see you. I'm traveling with the Doctor. Can I help you?"

Hope shone in Rose's eyes for the first time. "I hope so."

"_What're you doing in here?_" The decidedly angry sounding Doctor's voice brought her back to the room and Kath dropped the picture in surprise. He caught it lightning fast.

"I-I'm sorry," Kath stumbled.

"When I said you could have any room, I didn't know she would show you this one." Kath wasn't sure if his anger was directed more at her now or his TARDIS but decided it was time to give him space.

"Right, sorry." She quickly turned and fled the room. On her way out she saw the Doctor gently return the picture to the nightstand and leave the room with one last glance. The door disappeared behind them.

Kath raced down the hall and found an open dark wooden door on her right. This one empty and she knew the TARDIS could help her redecorate. Closing the door behind her she leaned against it. Had she really been talking to Rose? And, if she had made a connection… was it possible to help her come back?

* * *

The Doctor returned to the control room. He hadn't meant to yell at Kath. It wasn't her fault she wandered into a room she shouldn't have seen. No, he blamed the TARDIS for that, but he could not really stay angry at her either. He ran a hand down his face.

After an hour he decided he might need to go look for Kath and make sure he had not upset her. He had just turned to head towards the hallway when she walked out. Her hair looked damp and rebraided and she had swapped her jumper for a gray camisole and tank top. She didn't look like she wanted to talk about it and neither did he so he moved on.

"Where would you like to go?" the Doctor asked her.

She looked confused. "You're asking?"

Now it was his turn for the confusion. "Of course I'm asking. You traveled how long on that TARDIS and never once were you asked where you wanted to go?" Kath subtly shook her head. "Blimey." He wondered which Time Lord she'd been married to. "Well, is there anything you'd like to see?"

She seemed to think on that a long moment. Kath looked like a kid who'd been asked what they wanted to eat for the first time ever and was utterly lost, before a shy smile crept to her mouth. "I've always wanted to see a dragon." She thought a moment. "Are dragons real?"

"Of course they're real! Just have to know which planet and time to find them!" Tenla Six in the 4th century had them. Well, he thought it did anyway. He turned the dial and moved two switches and sent a mental call to his beloved ship. With a wheeze and a groan they landed.

Kath ran to the coat rack and grabbed her jacket but left the sword. She seemed excited but kept it tightly contained. She waited by the door.

He cocked his head. "Well, go on then."

"I can go first?" She seemed genuinely surprised.

"Are you sure this husband of yours is dead, because really I'd like to have a chat with him." Kath smiled broadly at his threat and walked through the door.

"Uh, Doctor?" she called as he followed her.

"Hmm?"

"I think we might actually be in a hospital. On Earth." She had pulled out a small tablet from her back pocket, scanning the area and reading it. "Definitely Earth. London to be more specific. Royal Hope Hospital… 31st of March, 2007? Or, thereabouts."

"Yeah?" he had followed her into some sort of storage. "Well, that's not right. I definitely didn't land us in a hospital. I hate hospitals."

"But you're a doctor," she told him.

"No, I'm _the _Doctor. Use your articles definitively, Kathryn Jones!"

"Yes, you are the definite article alright," she quipped. "Now, what are we doing standing around in a storage room? Let's find out what drew us here." Kath led the way out.

Apparently they had landed in a restricted area, however, which immediately became apparent when they were stopped by a middle-aged man from security with thinning red hair. "Oi! You! Who are you? What are you doing back 'ere?"

"Oh, we were just inspecting that cupboard. I'm Doctor Smith, and this is Doctor Jones," the Doctor told him happily.

"Our names sound like aliases," Kath muttered to him. "Smith and Jones?"

"Well, your name actually _is_ Jones and mine actually _is_ an alias," he whispered back.

"Also, I actually _am _a doctor," Kath informed him.

"I thought you were a librarian."

"I'm that too."

"Anyway!" the security man cut in but was cut off as staff in the hallway began to run around screaming.

The hospital dissolved into chaos around them, the staff acting in fear. "It's been a very long time since I've been in a hospital," Kath remarked. "If this is what they are like these days, I can see why you dislike them."

"I _hate _them," he corrected. The Doctor glanced out a window. "Well, that's not right." He watched as it rained… upside down. The hospital felt like it was moving beneath their feet and the rain froze. Kath and the Doctor ran to the window and opened it. They were on rocky, crater-filled ground. They sky was filled with stars… and the Earth? "No, not right at all."

Kath checked her device again. "And, now we're on the moon."

"What is that?" he nodded to the device she held. She handed it off to him. It was roughly the size of his hand, rectangular, and white plastic with a screen on one side, wooden on the back with 'Archive' carved into the back in circular Gallifreyan.

"My info-tab, short for information tablet. 51st century technology," she told him. He was surprised to see Archive come up again. "So, we're on the moon." She opened up the window. "Why can we breathe? We should all be dead."

The Doctor picked up something from the room and threw it out the window. It only went a little ways before smacking into an invisible field. "Forcefield keeping the air in. Still, we only have a limited supply before everyone in this hospital suffocates."

"Who would do that?" Kath asked.

A voice screamed from the hallway, "Aliens!"

"Sounds like we got your answer." They took off in the sound of the voice. He stopped short when he saw them. "Judoon."

* * *

"I'm not familiar with them," Kath said.

"They're like police. Well, police for hire." He thought about that. "They're more like interplanetary thugs."

"Encouraging. Why've they brought us to the moon?"

"Neutral territory," the Doctor explained. "According to galactic law, they have no jurisdiction over Earth, so they isolated the hospital."

The Judoon all wore black leather armor and massive bulbous helmets. They watched as the aliens spoke to the nearest people and took on the language. The Judoon began scanning and marking people with an X.

"Category: Human. Catalogue all suspects," the strange alien told his comrades.

"Suspects? Who could they possibly be looking for?" Kath noticed the Doctor standing suspiciously close to her. "Are you hiding behind me? You realize you're a good five inches taller than me, right? Although," she added, muttering, "You're probably skinny enough. Seriously, has anyone ever offered you a sandwich?" The Doctor was looking at her. "What?" she asked.

"I'm trying to decide if you're quiet or talkative."

"Oh, I go through phases. Like you, apparently. Hang on, are they looking for you, Doctor?"

"I don't _remember _breaking any galactic laws recently." He scratched his chin. "Although, that doesn't mean I haven't…"

One of the leather clad aliens removed his helmet revealing his face. Kath gasped. "The Judoon look like rhinos!"

"Now Kath, don't be rude," the Doctor chided.

"Rhinos look like Judoon!"

"Better. Now, irregardless of whether I'm wanted for something with the Judoon, I definitely won't pass their human test." They raced down the hallway opposite of where the scanning was going on.

"We aren't here by accident, then," Kath noted.

"No, in order to move this place they would have to have been charging up plasma coils for at least 2 days. That would generate a lot of energy, I guess the TARDIS was just drawn to it," he told her.

"So, what are they looking for them? Someone that looks human but isn't? she asked."

"A shape-changer!" he declared.

"Alright, so why don't we just let them find whoever it is that broke some galactic law?"

"Well they would execute everyone here for harboring a criminal."

"So, we need to find this person first," Kath said.

"Yep!"

"Hmm," Kath thought. "Maybe we should look in the records, see who was admitted recently with particularly strange symptoms?"

"Brilliant!" the Doctor headed off, seeming to know his way around. Maybe Time Lords were equipped with exceptional spatial sense.

"Where are we going?" Kath called after a while.

"Director's office, of course!" They turned into the room in time to see an old woman leaning over a man's dead body, a straw in her hand. Kath gasped and noticed humanoid dressed like a motorcyclist nearby. Standing guard, she guessed.

"Kill them!" the old woman screamed.

"Run!" the Doctor shouted to Kath. Pulling out his sonic screwdriver, he locked the door behind them before leading them down the hall to radiography.

"What are we doing in here?" Kath hissed as they hid behind the radiation screen.

The Doctor stepped out and started messing with the x-ray machine. "When I say 'now,' turn this thing on. You said you were a doctor, right?"

"Doesn't mean I know how to use an x-ray machine!" She sighed and grabbed the manual.

"Hurry!" the Doctor urged as the motorcycle man began to beat down the door. He aimed his sonic at the machine and changed something.

In only moments it was through and Kath was thankful she was a quick reader, as the Doctor shouted "Now!" and she turned the machine on. He aimed it at the oncoming thing and it fell face down.

Kath turned the machine off. "What'd you do?"

"Increased the radiation by five thousand percent," he told her.

"Now what? You were in the room too." She had still been hidden by the safety screen.

"Now I just need to expel it. If I concentrate I can shake the radiation out of my body and into one spot. How about into my left shoe?" The Doctor began to jump around and shout, hopping on one foot. "Hot, hot!" He quickly pulled his shoe off and flicked it into the trash. "Ha!" he announced triumphantly.

"Never a dull moment with you, is it?" she cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Never!" he shouted with his manic grin. "Although, one shoe? Ach!" He flicked his other shoe into the bin. "There we go, barefoot on the moon!"

Kath glanced down at the other thing he'd just flooded with radiation. "And, this is?"

"Oh, just a Slab. Basic slave drone." He nudged it with his bare foot. "See? Leather all the way through. One hell of a fetish someone has…"

"I'm guessing the old woman? Took orders from her," Kath noted. "And, what was with the straw?"

"She was drinking the director's blood. Oh!" he suddenly exclaimed, slapping himself in the forehead. "Internal shape-changer! She wasn't drinking his blood, she was assimilating it!"

They stepped out into the hallway to find the old woman being scanned and marked 'human' at the other end of the corridor. "Great," the Doctor groused and turned… right into a Judoon's scanner.

"Non-human," it said.

"Great!" the Doctor repeated, grabbing Kath's hand and running in the opposite direction. The Judoon were in pursuit behind them. "If you were a plasmavore being chased by the police what would you be doing?" He looked at Kath like she might actually know. "Oh," he suddenly announced, looking at something. "Oh, she's clever."

He stopped then a put a hand on each of her shoulders. "Kath, I need you to stay here and slow them down, buy me some time. And, I'm truly, honestly sorry for this." The Doctor leaned forward and brought his mouth to hers long and hard before suddenly breaking away and running off.

Oh, he bloody better run off. Kath might kill the Doctor next time she saw him for kissing her. She knew why he'd done it, but it was unnecessary. Her physiology deviated from strictly human, which crossed her mind exactly as the Judoon caught up with her, shoving a scanner in her face.

* * *

The Doctor had a pretty good idea what the plasmavore dressed like the old woman was up to and headed into the MRI unit. As suspected, she was there messing with the equipment which was glowing and arcing electricity. She had a second Slab with her. He decided he would try to trick her… and hope she didn't completely kill him in the process. Though, Kath might finish that job for the alien whenever she finally caught up to him for that little stunt he'd just pulled.

The plasmavore noticed him then. He improvised. "Aliens! There are great big rhino-things! From space! And, we're on the moon! Great big space rhinos with guns on the moon! This was supposed to be a lovely hospital, told me wife and all. And, now we're on the moon!"

On her order, the Slab in the room grabbed him. "That big machine thing," the Doctor said. "Is it supposed to be making that noise?"

She dismissed him. "You wouldn't understand."

"But isn't that a magnetic resonance imaging thing? Like a ginormous sort of magnet? I did magnetics GCSE. Well, I failed, but all the same."

The old woman looked proud… or maybe insane. "The magnetic setting is now set to fifty thousand tesla."

"Oh, that's a bit strong, isn't it?" It was the understatement of the century. It would cost billions of lives if he didn't stop her. He had an idea on how to do that but it wasn't going to be pleasant.

"It'll send out a magnetic pulse that'll fry the brain stems of every living thing within two hundred and fifty thousand miles. Except for me, of course. I'll be safe inside this room," she told him.

The Doctor tried to stall her. "But, hold on. I did geography GCSE, passed that one. Doesn't that distance include the Earth?"

"Only the side facing the moon. The other side will survive, call it my gift." She gave a sweet smile that could make Rassilon himself flinch.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little out of my depth. Why would you do that?" he asked her.

"With everyone dead I'll be free to make my escape in the Judoon ships."

At least he had guessed correctly then. "So, wait, am I talking to some sort of alien then?"

"Oh yes," she told him smugly.

"No way!" Time to set up his trap. "Maybe that's why they're increasing their scans. Something about setting two?"

"I must assimilate again, appear human," she said thinking.

"Well," the Doctor said. "You're welcome to come home and meet the wife. She'd be honored. We have cake."

"Why would I have cake? I've got my little straw."

"Oh!" he said excitedly. "Milkshakes? Banana for me, please."

"You're quite a funny man," she told him. "And yet, I think, laughing on purpose at the darkness. I think it's time you found some peace."

She brought the straw down to a vein on his neck. Oh, Kath was definitely going to kill him.

* * *

It took them a while but after several scans the Judoon decided that Kath must be human after all, chalking up any abnormalities to the non-human DNA they found around her mouth. Maybe the Doctor _had _known what he was doing after all. Not that she would ever tell him that.

She'd been slowly edging them to where the Doctor had disappeared and they had followed her. They entered the room behind her to see him fall to the ground. The old woman put the straw away in her purse. Kath looked from the Doctor's inert form to the plasmavore, anger coursing through her.

"Go on, scan him," the woman said.

They did, and the Judoon leader stated impassively, "Confirmation. Deceased."

"No!" Kath shouted, running to the Doctor's side. "She's the alien you're looking for!" Looking from the Doctor on the ground to the woman's purse where the straw had been put away, she made the connection. Grabbing the scanner from the Judoon she shined it in the old woman's face. 'Non-human' showed across him.

The rhino from space took the scanner from Kath and continued the scan. "Confirmation. Plasmavore. Suspect located."

They went through the process of arresting the overly proud alien when the MRI machine read Magnetic Overload. "Wait, you have to stop that thing! It'll kill everyone."

"Jurisdiction ended. Judoon will evacuate." With that, they left.

Kath looked helplessly at the MRI machine. She did not have a clue how to stop it. But, she hopefully did know how to restart the Doctor's hearts. She leaned over him and began CPR. Adrenaline coursed through her as she counted her pumps. She bit back any fear, replaced with the cold precision of a practiced physician. "Come on!" she yelled at him. She was exhausting herself. Fear began to set in in earnest when he _finally _coughed. Kath nearly sobbed.

"Doctor, the MRI!"

He looked around dazedly and pulled out his sonic screwdriver before aiming it at the machine. It shut down and he fell to the floor, taking deep breaths.

"The hospital is still in space, Doctor," she reminded him.

"Come on, Judoon. Come on!" he whispered breathlessly. "Reverse it."

"Doctor," Kath said, seeing a window across the hall. "It's raining! On the moon!"

He smiled. "Let's get back to the TARDIS, let them sort the rest of this out." She helped him up and they made their way back to their storage cupboard. The Doctor collapsed on the jump seat as Kath flipped a few switches to get her moving. When they were safely away she walked up to him and hit him across the arm.

"What was that for?" he asked indignantly.

"Scaring me! You could have died! You did die!"

The Doctor waved this off. "Only briefly. Knew you'd show up."

Kath huffed out a breath but when the Doctor opened his arms, she went into them without hesitation. "Don't scare me like that again," she whispered.

He only laughed. "Come on. I promised you some dragons."


	5. Death and Dragons pt 1

**A/N: Here is another chapter from my own imaginings. Even chapters tend to follow close to the show and odd chapters are something new. I still own nothing.**

* * *

3: Death and Dragons

Kath lay back against the headboard of her bed on the TARDIS. She did want to go see the dragons but she wanted to make sure the Doctor had time to rest first. He wasn't too keen on following her orders but eventually she'd prevailed. Maybe she should get some rest too, she decided, and closed her eyes.

There were four knocks at her door. Rest was overrated anyway. She pulled the old wooden door open to the Doctor. Whatever he was about to say seemed lost to him as he looked around her room. "Well, what do you think?" she asked him, holding open the door.

Kath was rather proud of it. Immediately to the left of the door was a nightstand and bed. Across from it was a loft. On the second floor she had set up a mini-library complete with lamps and comfy chairs. Directly beneath it was a workstation with a computer set up. A grand staircase tucked around it on the right, leading up to the loft. The right wall was a giant fountain, the water flowed and made a small stream where there was an indention cut into the dark green stone floors. She hung 'ever-chime' wind-chimes in one corner so there was always the music of flowing water and wind-chimes. It brought her peace.

The Doctor looked around. "Oh, it's nice. I like it."

She smiled happily at him. "Thank you. You're old girl is brilliant, really the design was hers. I only helped." Kath patted the TARDIS wall fondly. "Are you ready to go already?"

"Actually, I had a surprise I wanted to show you unless you were content to remain cooped up in your room all day. Although, it certainly is big enough." He still seemed a bit worn out from their misadventure on the moon and Kath began to wonder at how long it had been since he had last slept.

"Will we have to travel far for this surprise?" In truth she was not a fan of surprises.

"Nope," he took her hand. "Come on, I really think you'll like this." He led the way down the hallway opposite the direction of the console room. They traveled up a couple flights and down a few more hallways. Kath noticed the Doctor had changed suits now. He had been in a dark blue one before but now was in a brown. She honestly liked the brown a bit better.

"Here we are!" the Doctor said grandly, stopping before a large, ancient wooden door. He pushed it open and smiled proudly.

Kath gasped and looked around her. They were in a massive three story library right in the middle of the TARDIS. "This is amazing," she breathed.

"Welcome to the library," he said fondly. "I thought you might enjoy that. I should take you to the real Library someday. It takes up an entire planet! But, feel free to set yourself up some space and read whatever you'd like. Be careful, though. Some knowledge can be dangerous." With that, he left her to it.

Kath was not sure where to start first. She could not even guess how many volumes he kept in this library of his. If you could read at the speed of light, though, she supposed you would need a lot of books. Settling on a few different volumes regarding the geographical makeup of the known universe, she found a comfortable couch. There were beautiful illustrations of the constellations and planets but her eyes began to droop on that overstuffed couch. She would close her eyes briefly, she decided.

Kath opened her eyes and looked around her. She saw her sleeping form still laying on the couch, an open book resting over her belly. Was she dreaming about watching herself sleep?

She took two steps towards herself but the whole scene shifted. She was in a different part of the library now, the lights dimmed down. There was a television and normal-looking DVDs scattered around. Rose was sleeping on a couch. The Doctor's lanky frame was folded up, reading a book in a nearby chair, occasionally glancing at the sleeping woman, a content smile at his lips.

Kath moved towards them but it appeared the day had changed again. The lights were brighter now and the library looked a little different. "There you are!" Kath turned but Rose's voice wasn't addressing her. Leaning against a shelf, the blonde had a broad smile as she found the Doctor tinkering on something with a whole pile of books near him. "You're awake!" he said happily.

Looking behind her the room had changed again. It was decidedly darker now, not the lighting but the whole feel of the place. The dark close-cropped haired man Kath had seen in the photo in Rose's room, walked right by her, making her jump back. He had a commanding walk but slightly slumped shoulders. He seemed to be muttering to himself and pacing. "Doctor!" Kath heard Rose's voice call. "Doctor?" the leather clad man smiled. This was the Doctor too?

The scene was about to change again when Kath felt a hand on her shoulder. She started awake looking into the concerned brown eyes of the Doctor. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Kath shook her head. "Yeah. Sorry must've just drifted off. Why do you ask?"

He put a hand on the back of his neck. "You were calling my name." She was? Kath fought back a blush at that. "Your eyes are glowing again," he told her. "Oh, it's fading now."

"Ah, just the TARDIS in here acting up." She tapped her right temple. What had _that _all been about? Was she seeing memories in this room? She wanted to ask the Doctor about Rose but it just didn't seem like the time.

"Did you still want to go see those dragons? Your reading material doesn't seem to be holding your interest any longer."

He did seem to be feeling better. She wondered how long she had been out for. "Oh, yes please." She got up and stretched before returning the books she'd borrowed back to their proper place.

She found him in the control room already working over the console. "So, Tenla Six, 4th century. I promise we'll actually make it this time," he winked to her and she smiled.

The TARDIS landed with a groan of the engines and Kath did not hesitate this time before running to the door and pulling it open. She gasped, looking around them. Tenla Six appeared to be a moon orbiting a massive mint-green planet. The moon itself was covered in a strange purple vegetation and giant orange rocks.

The Doctor came up behind her. "Tenla, the actual planet, is a little too close to the sun and a little too large for us, but this moon, the sixth, has a perfectly placid atmosphere."

Kath stepped out and immediately began to choke, unable to breathe. The Doctor grabbed her and yanked her back into the ship, kicking the door closed. He dropped to the metal grated floor and brought up a box. "Ah-ha!" he exclaimed pulling something out he handed it to Kath. "This is a breathalizer. Tenla Six has a mostly hospitable atmosphere, but it's pretty heavy in carbon dioxide. The oxygen might be a little low for you. This fits over your mouth, converts the carbon dioxide into oxygen. It's like a miniature tree!" He took one as well.

"Glad you remembered that before it potentially killed us." Her voice sounded slightly metallic through the tiny mask. He smiled around his and they headed out to the strange world.

* * *

The Doctor hummed happily, hands clasped behind him. He never did get used to the thrill of landing on a strange new world. He had never visited this particular moon, only heard stories about it. "This way," he pointed, noting a city up ahead.

They came down the main road into a giant open air market. He saw the excitement in Kath's eyes as she looked around at everything but she stayed close by his side. A companion already trained not to wander off. What was the fun in that really? Maybe she would work it out of her system.

"The people are a bit strange." Kath noted. The natives looked part-plant and were all shades of greens and browns. "Oh," she suddenly said, looking at a particular stall. He went over to it. The seller had many items designed from carved wood and brushed metal reminding him of her TARDIS. Kath's eyes had lit upon a very simple necklace. It was just a silver chain with three concentric rings, a wooden one flanked by two brushed metal ones.

"Do you want it?" he asked politely. He would have to find something to trade if she did, but it was not a very expensive necklace.

"Oh, no, I couldn't. It just reminds me of something my mother wore when I was little." Kath waved politely to the vendor and continued on, but the Doctor noticed when she glanced back again when she thought he was otherwise occupied. "Doctor," she breathed, tugging on his coat sleeve.

He looked where she was pointing. There was a tiny dragon riding on someone's shoulder. It had spines along its back and powder blue, leather wings. It couldn't be more than 10 inches, nose to tail. "Bit smaller than I would have thought," he noted. Kath didn't seem put off though, so he approached the bloke. "Excuse me, where might I find one of these magnificent creatures?" he indicated the tiny dragon.

The man puffed out his chest proudly and stood at his full height, though he was several inches shorter than Kath and barely came up to the Doctor's shoulder. Bright green leaves grew out of his head."This, sir, is one of the finest specimens you'll find from Albrech's himself! He holds an establishment down in this very town. Though," he took in the two of them disdainfully. "They are likely more than you can afford."

Kath grabbed the Doctor's arm and pulled him along, telling the man, "Thank you for your help!" before the Doctor had a chance to say anything.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"You had that look."

"What look?" he asked innocently.

"That look that says, 'I'm very clever and will say something that might get me punched in the face.'"

"Oi, when have I ever done that?"

"Doctor," she sighed. "You are either charming someone, or insulting them. I'm not sure you have an in between. Now come on let's find this Albrech!"

The shop did not turn out to be difficult to find once they made their way into the city. The roads all wound in different directions and every building made of the world's strange orange stone. The buildings appeared as carved caves and near the center a sign brightly showed Albrech's Exotic Emporium. They went inside. A light flashed over them as they walked through the threshold.

The place was covered in cages filled with animals from all over the universe, not just those he knew to be in this galaxy. It was dark and industrial. It looked more like a scientists lab with animals to be experimented on than a place to purchase pets. Cold set into him and Kath looked wary. "I don't like this," she said.

He approached the counter where a bored women was leaning, drinking a strong smelling beverage. She had bright green vines running over skin that looked like bark. "Is Albrech here?" the Doctor asked neutrally. She looked up at him a minute and went to the back, presumably to find the owner.

"This looks like a poacher's shop," Kath said under her breath to him.

"That's exactly what it looks like," the Doctor growled.

A man walked out then. His skin was a pea-green, eyes an unsettling white, and purple flowers grew on his head. "You were seeking Albrech?" he asked the Doctor smoothly but his eyes lit up on a scanner in his hands.

"I like a little shop, me," the Doctor told him, jumping right in. "But harmless, happy little shops. This isn't a harmless happy little shop, though, is it?"

"Dear me, I don't know what you're talking about. But look at this one," he seemed to be indicating Kath. "Aren't you a specimen. Is this a human? Oh, we don't get many humans here, especially not a female." He turned to the Doctor. "How much do you want for her?"

"The female is not for sale," Kath told the clerk indignantly.

"_Everything_ has a price," Albrech said, but continued looking on at the Doctor.

"Not today, it doesn't." He put a hand on Kath's shoulder and guided her out.

Kath nearly growled. "That is sick! He's clearly a poacher. And, since when is it okay to just buy and sell people like commodities?"

"Unfortunately slavery and poaching are not strictly illegal here it would seem," he told her sadly. They had walked down the road from the shop.

"Isn't there anything we can do?"

"We are not the police." A woman nearby screamed for help. "Although, that really just means our jurisdiction is endless." He led the way over to her.

"Are you alright?" Kath asked, leaning over the crying woman on the ground.

"No! It's gone. It's _gone_!" she clutched onto Kath's arm.

"What's gone?" the Doctor asked.

"My dragon! My employer will be furious. He'll have me killed." The tree woman started to wail and leaned into Kath. She looked at the Doctor helplessly.

Deciding he better intervene, he leaned down and pulled the woman up gently. "Come on, let's get you a nice cuppa. Or maybe just some water." He led them over to a tiny cafe tucked away. Setting her down he asked her name.

"Melita. I'm Melita. Not that it matters now, I won't be anyone for long. They'll burn me! Burn me, I'm telling you."

He exchanged a look with Kath. "Over a dragon?" Kath asked. She shook her head. "Look, we won't let anyone burn you, okay? We'll help you find the dragon. The Doctor and I are great at finding things. Just yesterday we found a plasmavore in a hospital, didn't we, Doctor?"

"Sure did!" he assured Melita. "I did die, though," he added as an afterthought.

"Wasn't planning on mentioning that bit," Kath muttered.

He whispered conspiratorially to her. "S'alright, I'm alive now, so I don't think she noticed." The barman brought them a glass of something syrupy and Kath encouraged her to drink

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Melita tried to wave them off.

Color was returning to her forest green skin, so he felt safe asking her a few questions. "When was the last time you saw your dragon?"

"It's not my dragon; it's my employers. He'll have-"

"You killed, yes, we got that part. But where did you last see it?"

"I was riding my great dragon, Setlik. We landed on the eastern edge of the city, near the warehouses. I sent him away. I found something there. I… I don't remember what. But, the next thing I knew I woke up here. But no one will help me," Melita ended forlornly.

"Hey," Kath said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We're here to help. Maybe we should start at these warehouses. But, first what do you mean you were _riding _a dragon? The only dragons I've seen are tiny things that could fit one hand."

"Those aren't real dragons! Come, come." She led them to a nearly empty side street and gave a shrill whistle that the Doctor was pretty sure even he could not replicate. The forest green woman, who now seemed much better, stood proudly as a great wind gusted around them.

Kath gasped as a great creature descended from the sky. Nose to tail, it was at least fifty feet and nearly two stories at the shoulders. Kath tugged on the Doctor's sleeve. "Now _that's _a dragon."

* * *

Kath still couldn't believe she was actually looking at a dragon. Her mother had loved stories of them; it was what made her so interested in them over the years. She did not think they were real. Kath wondered what other beasts of legend were real on other worlds.

Melita's dragon, Setlik, she'd called it, laid down as if waiting for them to climb on. If she was being honest, Kath would admit she was dying to do so.

"Shall we go check out the warehouses?" Melita asked. "Unfortunately Setlik can only carry two. Kath you want a chance to ride this old boy? We can check out the warehouses and maybe your friend could scout this area? I'm not sure how I got here. Do you think you could find out?"

The Doctor looked very hesitant, but Kath was dying to ride the great beast. She was surprised it could not hold three people, though. He was rather large.

After some deliberation the Doctor decided. "Fine, I'll see what I can gather here. If you get into any trouble, let me know."

"After you," Melita told her and showed her how to grab onto a lower ridge and wedge herself between them. Kath readjusted the breath mask in her mouth and settled in between the spines, securing herself as best she could. With a call from Melita, Setlik took off.

The ground rushed away and the Doctor was gone in a moment. They were soaring. The wind rushed around her as the great beast moved its wings. Kath could see now they were in a rather small city, but it was nestled in the middle of nowhere. She looked back and saw that old blue police box on a hill where they had left her.

Melita landed them amidst some new looking buildings near a rocky coast on the outskirts of the city. "That's incredible!" Kath told her, leaping down.

The tree woman smiled at her. "Dragon travel is uncommon, often reserved for the elite and very rich. They are extremely rare creatures. I'm very lucky."

Kath headed towards the buildings. These did not look like the same rock-carved structures that were in the city. These were industrial, bright white except where the orange sand had stained them, and did not quite fit here. "Are these the buildings then?" she asked Melita. "What were you doing out here again?"

Kath heard Setlik fly off again and turned at the sound but Melita grabbed her from behind. She could feel the muzzle of a gun pressed into her back. "Pity," the woman said. "You really were nice. Nothing personal."

Melita fired the gun into Kath's back.


	6. Death and Dragons pt 2

The Doctor had been searching the city for hours but as far as he could tell there was absolutely nothing here. He was surprised Melita and Kath had not come back yet. He had, however, noted something interesting. The little dragons on people's shoulders were a very rare thing. The Doctor wanted to get a closer look at one.

Having spied one at Albrech's, he thought he'd try there, even as detestable as it was. Making his way back across the orange rocky city, he found the shop once again. To the Doctor's surprise it was closed and dark inside. The sky above him was fading towards purple but it wouldn't be dark for at least an hour. It seemed odd they closed up so early.

Making his way around the side, he noticed a service door. No one was around, so he took his sonic to it and stepped inside. He was in a back room of some sort with shelves of boxes. The store was dark so he used the light generated by his sonic screwdriver to look into the nearest box. Inside was a tiny dragon laying on its side.

The Doctor took the tiny dragon out and examined it. He scanned it. "What are you…" he murmured to the tiny thing. Mechanical. It was mechanical. The tiny dragons weren't alive or real at all. What was their purpose?

Footsteps entered the room; the Doctor darted behind a shelf. He was surprised when Melita was the one who walked in.

"No, I put it where you told me." She was talking to someone the Doctor hadn't seen yet. He heard a male voice answer. "Albrech, it's where you said. And, what do you want the other one for?" She huffed, setting a box down and closed the door behind her, heading back into the shop.

If Melita was here, where was Kath? The Doctor needed to find her. He left the building and pulled out his sonic screwdriver thinking of a way that might work to send her a message.

* * *

Groaning, Kath sat up. Her head was pounding and her back felt like someone had hit her with a brick. Well, they'd done worse than that. The gun may have been set to stun but it still hurt like hell.

Dismay set in as she noticed her surroundings. Around her was some sort of glass cube that was lit from below. It was barely large enough to fit her on all fours; she couldn't stand up. Fantastic. She had allowed herself to be tricked and put in a cube. There were small vents in the bottom that must be supplying suitable air for her since her breathalizer was gone.

Kath attempted to shift to a slightly more comfortable position but there just wasn't the room. Sitting on her haunches, something in her back pocket moved, alerting her. Kath pulled out the info-tab she had there. Strange symbols glowed across the screen in deep blue. There could only be one language that she wouldn't be able to read thanks to the TARDIS. Somehow the Doctor was sending this to her. At a guess it was a combination of sonic screwdriver and telepathy.

She typed back, _I cannot read high Gallifreyan. Can you interpret your thoughts into a simpler language?_

The message came back in moments, this time in circular Gallifreyan. _Are you okay? Where are you?_

She replied, _Circular Gallifreyan, much better. You really don't send your thoughts in lesser languages? Least I can read this one._

_Kath,_ his simple reply.

_For the record, this isn't a phone,_she sent to him.

_Are you safe? Where are you? _he repeated.

_I'm stuck in a glass box. No breathalizer, but there's air in here for now. I was knocked out. Maybe still at the warehouses?_

_On my way._

Kath went to put the device away when it beeped at her again. She read the circular writing. _It's a phone._ Shaking her head, she smiled. It had been too long since there had been someone to have her back. She'd missed the adventures and the companionship more.

Feeling around, she grabbed her sonic screwdriver from her boot. The Doctor seemed to have a million and one uses for the device but she had only really used it to open doors or work on her TARDIS. She was grateful it still worked at all since the ship's death. Taking a page from the Doctor's book, she scanned the glass around her. Fenito glass. No way she was going to be able to break that.

Laying back, Kath reared up kicked the wall with both feet as hard as she could manage. They bounced off, useless. Yep, she was definitely not able to break that.

The room around her was fairly dark but she could see various other cages and containment devices. What she did not see, however, was her breath mask. Even if the Doctor was able to get her out, it would not take her long to suffocate in the thin air. She would worry about it later and hope the Doctor had a plan.

Movement outside her box caught her attention. She hoped it was the Doctor but surely there had not been time yet for him to find her. Hope turned sour in her stomach when she saw the purple flowers on the intruder's head. "Albrech.

* * *

It did not take the Doctor to get directions to the warehouses from the locals. They seemed very wary of the buildings and noted that most did not venture out that far. Because of this, he could not hire any transport. He could bring the TARDIS in, but did not want to risk bringing her around anyone that claimed to be a 'collector' of anything.

He assumed it must have been Albrech that had taken Kath with Melita's help, assuming he had called the woman to get their attention and lead his companion away. The Doctor chided himself internally for leaving her, he'd known better, but there was nothing to be done for that now.

The little dragon was still in his hand as he made his way there. He pried the thing open in his hands. It was full of gears and wires and a sort of purplish liquid. Dipping a finger in, the Doctor took a small taste. Blood. Dragon blood at a guess. Now, what would they be doing with miniatures of the creatures filled with blood?

They weren't exaggerating when they said the warehouses were on the outskirts of town. The industrial buildings did not fit on this world. There were a series of three in a row with large clamps on top. Oh, he realized. They weren't buildings at all but storage bins of a very large ship. They were planning to transport a large quantity of items off-planet all at once.

The Doctor made his way to the nearest one when a loud screech stopped him. He looked up into the sky. A large dragon swooped down at him; he dove out of the way but those teeth had been closer than he liked. The creature spiraled down again. There was something off about its behavior. The Doctor looked into the animal's eyes. They were blank, utterly and completely blank.

He edged to the building, his back against the wall near the doorway. He was about to slip inside when a booming male voice sounded in his head. _Help us!_ What was that?! Another form of telepathy? He'd work it out later, and slipped inside the building.

Pulling out his sonic screwdriver he scanned for human life around and followed its trail. The Doctor sniffed. The air felt different here; he pulled his breath mask off. There was more oxygen in the air in this building, it was breathable. He slipped the device in his pocket, opposite the little dragon.

He found Kath's glass cage near the back. She looked fine but alarm was in her eyes. "Doctor!" she called through the glass. "Albrech."

The Doctor turned to the tree man standing in the shadows. "Ah, Doctor, is it? Strange name for a strange man. I scanned you when you and the girl entered the shop. I found her species easily enough but yours, no, no, came up blank. So, imagine my excitement when I widened its search range. A human female, practically worthless next to the price of a _Time Lord_."

"Let her go," the Doctor said, glancing at Kath.

"Now, that depends on you." Albrech held up his data pad. "This will release the opening on that cage. I think you'll find it to be deadlocked. Ah, but that's not _all_ it can do." He smiled. "See, I can also take the breathable air I've given her right out of there. Want to see?" Albrech pushed a button.

Alarm showed in Kath's eyes as she began to pound on the walls of her cage. "Let her go!" the Doctor tried again.

"Mm, no, I don't think so. She'll still fetch a decent price, even dead."

The Doctor threw himself at Albrech but quick as lightning, he had pulled a gun from a back holster and fired at the Doctor. It hit him hard, throwing him down, immobilized.

"Ah, Melita." Albrech said, looking down at the gun. "She's left it on stun from when she shot Kath. Still, should immobilize you for at least fifteen minutes. Stronger than the girl, then. She was completely unconscious."

The Doctor watched helplessly as Kath continued her fight against the cage, but he could see her weakening, exhaustion overtaking her as her air ran out. She fell against the side, unmoving. Fury rang through him. His body refused to move so much as an inch as Albrech continued to taunt him.

"Emotional Time Lords. I've heard about that. Unpredictable, the records say. Dangerous even. It's why your people kept so aloof. But, you don't seem so dangerous to me."

He knew the minute he had began to get feeling back, but didn't let on until he was sure he had the strength. When he did, the Doctor launched himself at Albrech and threw him into a nearby shelf. The tree man hit hard and fell, unconscious.

The Doctor snatched up the datapad and found the button to release the cage. Running over, he caught Kath as she fell, but he was too late. She was not breathing and he could find no pulse to her. She'd been without air too long. "No," he told her. "No! You aren't doing this. No…"

* * *

Kath was not entirely sure where she was now. The sun shone over her head, a field of grass all around her. She thought she was alone until she heard the voice behind her. "Kath? What are you doing here?"

She turned around and saw the blonde woman standing there again. "Rose? Where are we?"

Rose sighed. "I've stopped asking. Your eyes are glowing."

"They are?" Kath got closer to Rose. "So are yours. Ah." Kath was finally beginning to understand. "Have you ever been touched by the TARDIS?"

"I lived on her for ages. And, once, to save the Doctor's life, I took the heart of the TARDIS into my head to save his life. He took it back and that was when he changed."

"That's what caused his last regeneration? Must've been only a couple years now," Kath mused. "Nevermind. I think the lingering effect of the TARDIS in your head and the one in mine is creating a connection between us."

"What exactly does that mean?"

"It means," Kath told her. "That I'm going to do everything in my power to bring you back."

"How?" Rose asked skeptically, but Kath could see that little spark of hope.

"I'm not entirely sure yet. How are we even talking right now? Where are you really?" she asked the blonde.

"At a guess? Sleeping."

"And, I'm dead." Rose looked alarmed but Kath waved her off. "Don't worry, it's only a temporary condition for me. Bit of a genetic anomaly I seem to have gotten from my father. But, I've been awake when we've communicated, so it is possible. Maybe a form of deep meditation. We'll try it."

"I've had an idea about how to get back. These people I work for, Torchwood, well we've been trying to build it. It's called a dimension cannon."

"Dimension cannon?" Kath asked. "I might be able to help. I'll see what I can do. But Rose." The woman turned to her. "Rose, it will be extremely dangerous if we can even do it. There is no guarantee you'll survive it."

Strength showed in this woman's eyes. "I will do what I have to, to get back to my Doctor."

Kath nodded and felt herself slipping away.

She lay in the arms of the Doctor looking into his large brown eyes. Eyes that were turning from aching sadness to surprise. "Kath?"

"Oh, hello, again."

"Hello," he said happily, a broad grin spreading across his face. He helped her up. "I thought you were dead."

"I was," she told him simply. He would find out sooner or later. "The trouble I seem to have is staying that way."

"What-" he started but was cut off by the large dragon breaking through the doorway and entering the building. They held their breath as sheeting came down to seal off the wound in the wall. The creature roared at them.

Kath began to back away but the Doctor put a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright." He pulled out the mini dragon from his pocket and then turned to Albrech who was now sitting up and looking at them angrily.

"See, I noticed something. That's what I do, I notice things. And, I noticed the dragons eyes, look at them. Go on, then. Get a good look. And, what do you see?" Kath turned to look at the creatures eyes, but then she saw it. "That's right," the Doctor continued. "Nothing."

He came a little closer to the dragon now and held up the mini version. "See this here. It's a handy little device, isn't it?" He glanced at Albrech but then turned back to the dragon. "Handy but wrong. Filled with blood. A dragon's at a guess."

"Blood control," Kath breathed. She'd seen it once before. It had been frightening.

"Yup!" The Doctor said. "Now, what if I do this?" And, he pulled out his sonic screwdriver, aiming it at the device.

"No!" Albrech said, but it was too late. Kath heard the sound of the sonic and looked into the dragon's eyes. They cleared and sharp intelligence returned to them.

The Doctor reached out and placed a gentle hand on it's nose. "Be free again," he said quietly.

_Thank you_. Kath heard in her head. "Telepathy," the Doctor explained. "These are exceptionally intelligent creatures. And, now, no longer controlled."

Behind them, Albrech roared in anger and raised the gun again. "A dead Time Lord is still worth more than no Time Lord," he snarled.

Kath could see it wasn't on stun any longer. "No!" she screamed and rushed forward but the shot was aimed for the Doctor and had caught him off guard.

The round entered his back and knocked him flat.

The great dragon bellowed loud enough to shake the building before reaching its long neck out and snapping Albrech up in one bite.

_I'm sorry_, it said sadly to her.

Kath rushed to the Doctor's side. He was losing a lot of blood. "I have to get you back to the TARDIS! Do you have a key?" His right arm was clutching his chest, but he felt around his pockets with his left and came up with a key. Pulling the device from her boot, she soniced it.

Kath pulled her gray tank top off and put it to his wound to staunch some of the bleeding. She heard the TARDIS engines as it materialized around them. Leaving him for a moment she flipped a few switches to get them moving again.

"I need an infirmary close. Now!" she called to the ship and dragged the Doctor up. Pulling him along, Kath found the first door into the hallway to be a medical room now. Laying him down, she pulled off his jacket, unbuttoned his shirt, and cut away what she could of his t-shirt.

"Why do you have to wear so many clothes," she growled at him.

He groaned and pushed her away. "Regeneration…" he said quietly.

"No!" she knew the point of no return for Time Lords. She'd healed enough to know they did not have to regenerate unless the body was dead and both his hearts were still working. "Do you want to regenerate?" He mumbled something that she couldn't hear. "Do you want to regenerate?!" Kath yelled this time.

"No," the Doctor said back loudly enough this time.

Adrenaline rushed through her as she quickly made her way around the room finding what she would need to seal the wound closed. Kath suspected he would keep some of his own blood around for such an occasion. There wasn't exactly anyone else to get a transfusion from. She found it in a far corner.

Giving him some painkillers, she set to work with practiced hands.

* * *

Kath sat on the jump seat in the control room staring at the glass column, the time rotor oscillating inside without her really noticing it. She had showered and changed, leaving her damp hair resting down her back.

She had moved the Doctor to his room. Well, she assumed it was his room. It was the nearest one to the infirmary now and had a bed so that was good enough for her. He was out and she couldn't help but look around that room the TARDIS had given her.

It was massive and to some extent looked like a smaller version of the library. But, in one corner there had been a large desk. Being nosy she went over to it, glancing around at the random items scattered about. Little projects he'd been working on, complicated formulas. It was then that she noticed all the research. Alternate dimensions, passage between parallel worlds, the structure of the universe and beyond.

The Doctor had been trying to find a way to get back to the other world where Rose was, Kath realized. That broke her heart a little. She'd left then, after setting out some new clothes for him on the bed near him.

The blue-green light shone on her face. Had she really been talking to Rose in… well, wherever they were? If the Doctor couldn't find a way to get back, how were they going to?

Still lost in her thoughts, Kath didn't notice the Doctor enter the control room in a clean suit. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Kath jumped. "Doctor! You should be resting."

"I am. Healing coma does wonders and doesn't cost regeneration energy. Walking around my TARDIS doesn't take too much energy."

They fell silent, neither sure what to say. Finally, he spoke up. "So, you really can't read high Gallifreyan?"

Kath smiled. "Nope, it honestly has never come up."

"But, you can heal Time Lords," he said, glancing down at himself and then back to her.

"I told you I was a doctor, remember?" Kath said innocently.

"A doctor yes, but Time Lords have very different physiology than humans. If you didn't know what you were doing you could have just as easily killed me. But you acted with the cool precision of long practice."

Kath shrugged. "I simply did not want you to waste a regeneration unless you had to." She had an idea then, to confirm if she really had been talking to his Rose. "How did you regenerate last time?"

The Doctor leaned casually against the console; she could read the pain and exhaustion in the way he held himself. He looked a little suspicious but answered her question anyway. "I was facing an army of Daleks and an impossible choice. I had sent Rose away but she came back. She had taken the heart of the TARDIS into her own mind and saved my life. I took it back out of her to send back into the TARDIS but it killed my body in the process."

That wasn't something she could have made up then. Determination set in to help this Rose get back. "Was it recent?" she asked.

"Only within the last couple years, now," he said. She was surprised he was willing to talk about it at all. Maybe it was the painkillers still in his system. "Where would you like to go next?"

Kath actually laughed out loud. "No way, we're taking some time to rest. You died in London, then I died on Tenla Six, and then you _almost _died again. Seriously, we're just going to rest."

"How is it, that you died and then came back to life again?" he asked it casually but there was something in his eyes. He knew more than he was letting on. Kath was not at all sure what it was.

"Told you. I was born that way."

"That would make you a fixed point in the universe. A point at which time would bend around. And, yet…"

"Yet, it doesn't, does it? What does that tell you Doctor?" They both knew, but somehow she needed him to say it. "Go on," she said when he looked away.

"It means," he said quietly, "That you will die at a point of normal time, when your life has not extended too far past where it normally should be."

"Death, for me, is an old friend, Doctor, someone I visit fairly often. And, there will come a day when I decide to stay. I am not afraid." Kath took a deep breath. "We could have a thousand years, a hundred years, or just one day. That is how life should be." The Doctor was looking at her now. "But yes, someday, I will die."

"Not today, though."

"No," Kath agreed with a smile. "Not today."

"I have something for you," he said suddenly. He reached into his pockets and pulled something out of each. "Here," he said opening his right hand.

Kath gasped when she saw what it was. He held a simple silver necklace with three rings attached; she recognized it as the one she'd wanted in the stall.

He put a hand on the back of his neck. "You seemed to like it so I went back for it while I was searching the city."

Kath couldn't help the tears that rushed to her eyes as she held the thing. She could not remember anyone giving her anything like that for no other reason than they could. "Thank you," she whispered. She thought of her mom. She used to hold one similar saying the three rings represented holding the past, present, and future in equal measure but never forgetting the importance of the present and living. She slipped it on.

"And, one other thing," he said, offering what was in his left hand now. Inside she saw a small key. "To the TARDIS. She's your home now, too, after all."

Reverently, Kath took the key from him. She understood exactly what he was giving her and which gift had truly been more weighty.


	7. Evolution of the Daleks

**A/N: This does cover two episodes so a lot of it is simplified and it feels very quick despite still being a very long chapter. I follow some dialogue and simplify, skip, and make up other parts of it.**

* * *

4: Evolution of the Daleks

Stepping out and pulling the door closed, Kath turned to the Doctor. "So, where are we now?" It had been a couple weeks since they'd stepped out on some random world, having spent some time in the Time Vortex to refuel the TARDIS.

The Doctor took a deep sniff. "Smell that north Atlantic breeze. Nice and cold."

"Oh!" Kath exclaimed, looking around. "New York. Oh, wow, it's been so long!" Glancing over, she spied a newspaper. "November first, 1930." She gave a breathy laugh. "I can't believe it. This is almost exactly one year since I first went time traveling."

"You're from this time?" the Doctor asked.

"Originally, yeah. I was born in 1899. Lived in the states until I was 26 then moved to England. I stayed there for four years, met a man, ran away with him, never really looked back. The 2nd of November, 1929. I was thirty years old. I can't believe how young I was."

"Why did you leave?" they began walking down the busy New York street. The Doctor could see the Statue of Liberty off in the distance.

"Leave the States or run away?"

"Both." She seemed in a divulging mood. He had no idea that she was from this era, there was nothing about her that let on.

"My mom, Mary-Elizabeth Jones, died in 1915 when I was just 16 years old. Caught the flu. We were very close. My dad had come by a few different times while I was growing up, so after her death I sought him out. He took me in. He was into investigating some slightly less than normal things. On the outside he looked like a private investigator. I joined up with him. He taught me how to investigate, question, observe, fight. We got into all sorts of trouble but it was fun.

"We kept at it for 10 years, but something happened one night. I was shot on a routine investigation, right in the heart. I died for the first time in 1926 in a back alley in Detroit. My dad went after the guy. He thought I was gone. So did I actually.

"Anyway, I woke up, alone. I never could find my old dad again. It's like he just disappeared without a trace. I decided I wanted to study genetics, see if I couldn't figure out what made me this way. So, I moved to England to become a doctor."

She grew quiet then. It was a lot to take in, but wasn't as strange as his own life. He had a suspicion about her dad. "Why'd you run away from England?"

"I wasn't really running away from England. I actually loved it there. But, sometimes you meet someone and you can't help but fall for them. He was… complicated. I hated him and loved him. He killed me actually. I did my whole coming back to life thing, and we became friends and eventually a lot more. Our relationship was never… simple, though."

"How old are you?" he asked.

"Should know better than to ever ask a girl her age," Kath winked. "How old are you?"

"I'm over 900 now." It wasn't a secret after all; he'd told plenty.

"Oh. Wow. I'm only 323," she laughed. "And, before you ask, I'm not sure if I'm aging. It would appear I am. A little at least. I look closer to my late twenties now than I did a couple centuries ago when I looked more in my early." She stopped, looking up. "What is that?"

The Doctor glanced where she was looking. "That would be the construction of the Empire State Building," he informed her.

"Huh, that's new. Well, obviously, I suppose. Can we go and have a look?" Her eyes held a mischievous glint. She knew full well it wasn't open for viewing.

"We could always go further in time and just visit it when it's open," he suggested.

"Nah."

He met her smile with his own. Of course they wouldn't just go see it in the future. That was far too boring. "Perhaps we should go for a look at night, yeah?"

"Alright, what would you like to do in the meantime?" Kath asked.

"Find a good chippy?" he suggested.

"Doctor, this is America." Kath shook her head. "Could just go back to the TARDIS and head a few hours in the future." She thought a moment. "Though, with your luck that would get us probably months or years in the future."

"Oi!" he said indignantly. But, then the Doctor remembered bringing Rose twelve months into her future instead of twelve hours. He felt a pang in his hearts.

"Doctor?" Kath asked, looking concerned. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it."

He brushed her off and plastered on a happy smile. "'Course not. We should-"

He was cut off when two men ran between them, one chasing the other and screaming profanities. They raced off into a cluster of shanties in the middle of the park. Kath stared after them bemusedly. "What's this then? Are people living in the park?"

"You aren't familiar with Hooverville?" the Doctor asked her surprised.

"Ah," Kath said. "I lived around this time but I wasn't residing in big ol' New York. Never actually seen the dwellings that struck up in the park, only heard about it."

The men were squabbling when another man walked out of a tent and managed to silence both of them. Ah, now here was the power structure. The Doctor headed in, Kath following along.

"You the boss around here?" he asked the man casually.

"Who might you be?" sharp eyes studied him.

Kath broke in smoothly. "I'm Kathryn and this is the Doctor."

"Doctor, huh? First doctor around here. Place gets classier by the day! Though with workers going missing all the time 'round here it's becoming hard to keep up. I'm Solomon." He held out his hand for the Doctor to shake.

Taking it, the Doctor asked, "What do you mean 'missing?' People must come and go here all the time."

"This is different." Solomon beckoned them into his tent. "See, men go missing during the night. We hear one call for help and by the time we get there, nothin.' Like they just vanish in thin air. Tried the police. They don't give anything. Just another deadbeat gone missing, ain't their concern, they figure." The man shook his head.

Before he could continue with the story a different man edged into the tent. "Solomon, Mister Diagoras is here."

* * *

Kath headed out with Solomon and the Doctor to see this new man. He was out offering work for almost no pay. She couldn't say she was overly surprised when the Doctor piped up and volunteered to go. Groaning, Kath followed suit. "Now you decide to break you streak of unemployment?"

"Having a job can get you respect," he informed her.

"Or killed," she retorted. "Which, face it, with our luck, that is far more likely."

The Doctor just shrugged happily.

Kath was on high alert as their little group was led to some tunnels within the sewers. "Aw, bring me to the loveliest places, don't you?" she quipped.

"Aw, we saw dragons!"

"It tried to kill us."

"There was a hospital?" he tried.

"More things trying to kill us."

The Doctor hmmed.

"In my professional opinion," Kath told him, "Something down here will try to kill us."

The foreman left them off with directions and a snarky comment about not having to pay them if they didn't return. The Doctor didn't take a fancy to that and stared the man down. Diagoras quickly left.

The men were explaining their life stories to distract themselves but Kath was watching the Doctor. Something had caught his eye. "What is this?" he murmured to himself.

She spied the luminous jellyfish creature that had captured his opinion. "What is- and you're picking it up. Do you know what it is?"

"Medical opinion?" he asked.

"Not human?" she tried.

"Astute." The Doctor shined his light at it, considering, then looked up at her. "Notice something else? Weren't we sent down here to take care of a cave in?"

"Yeah?"

"No such cave-in and we're right underneath Manhattan now. So, I have to ask, why were we sent down here?"

A sound strangely similar to a pig squeal sounded off down a side tunnel. The Doctor and Kath exchanged a look. "Uh, what was that?"

A group of men rounded the corner into their tunnel. No, not men, not quite. _Pigs_. Pig-men? "Uh, Doctor."

"Now, what are you?" he said in fascination watching them come towards their group more and more quickly.

Solomon pulled his group of workers back down the tunnel where they came. The Doctor was still attempting to talk to them. The insane Time Lord was fascinated by absolutely anything! Kath grabbed his hand and brought his attention to her. He glanced between her and the pig-men. "We should probably run," he suggested.

"You think?" They followed after the workers. Hurrying them along. It took them less than half the time to return to the open manhole cover. "I guess we have an idea where the missing workers are going, but what were those things?"

"Exactly what I'd like to know. Let's get back to the TARDIS so I can examine this." The Doctor held up the jellyfish thing.

"Ew, you kept it?"

Solomon broke in, telling them he was heading back for Hooverville with the other workers. They nodded to him and headed back down the busy New York street to where they had parked their ship.

Kath slipped the key in and opened the blue doors. The Doctor sprinted up the ramp and then dashed down a side hallway. Kath followed him into what looked like some sort of lab. It wasn't a room she had been in before but that wasn't overly surprising really.

"Just need to do a little DNA test." He inserted it into some sort of machine. Examining the readouts he started rambling off data points to himself. "Fundamental DNA Type 467-989." He mused, "989…" Suddenly the Doctor's face shifted to something akin to anger or fear. "Hold on, that means planet of origin: Skaro."

"Skaro…" Kath said. "No… no, it can't be. Daleks?" A shiver ran through her. Kath's expression mirrored the Doctor's.

* * *

The Doctor raced back to the sewer entrance with Kath right behind him. "Daleks. Doctor, it can't be. Please tell me it's not."

He could hear the fear in her voice but couldn't reassure her. He did not understand why that DNA would show up in the sewers of 1930's Manhattan. But, he would find out.

Pulling out his sonic, the Doctor began scanning the area around them as they dropped down into the tunnel. Kath followed him, silent now, but one hand resting on the handle of the sword sheathed on her back. She had the silent tread of a soldier in battle.

They followed his sonic screwdriver a few miles down the tunnel, through several turns. The Doctor was beginning to wonder if they weren't completely lost when a very familiarly shaped shadow fell across the tunnel.

He pulled Kath against the wall. "Dalek," she breathed.

The Doctor peered around the corner. The dalek led a group of workers down the tunnel flanked by two pig-men. "Let's see where they are headed," he whispered to his companion. Kath looked at him like he was mad when he slipped into the line of workers but followed along dropping her hand from the sword.

"We are most certainly going to die," she muttered. "Again."

The Doctor's mind raced. Why were the daleks kidnapping workers? What were they doing with them? How many daleks were there here? How did they escape when his people died? He would never understand the cruelty and injustice of the universe where his people burned and yet the daleks managed to live on. It was not fair!

It appeared they had not even been noticed joining the small group. One of the smartest races in the universe, the daleks, but they could be a rather thick lot. The group continued on until they finally ended up in some sort of laboratory. The Doctor's blood ran cold at the grouping of four daleks.

"Report," the one of the daleks said tonelessly.

"Dalek Sec is in the final stage of evolution."

"Scan him. Prepare for birth. The Final Experiment begins."

"Evolution?" the Doctor muttered to Kath. "Ask them about it, I don't want to be noticed."

She looked at him from the corner of her eye but squared her shoulders. "Daleks! What is the Final Experiment? Report!" Her voice rang with authority but he caught the hint in her expression that she would be shocked if they actually answered.

"You will bear witness to the dawn of a new age," Dalek Sec responded.

Kath cocked an eyebrow, feigning cockiness. "Yeah? And, what's that?"

The dalek continued. "We are the only four daleks in existence, so the species must evolve a life outside the shell. The Children of Skaro must walk again."

The Doctor looked on in horror as the dalek's eyestalk light went out, the shell popped open. He was accustomed to the one-eyed squid like creatures that had taken to being the daleks true form. But this- this was something else. The head looked similar to the squid form but it was bipedal and wearing a suit! It looked humanoid.

Kath backed away from the thing until she bumped into the Doctor's chest. "What- what is that thing?"

Dalek Sec turned to them. The voice sounded smoother, no longer the filtered mechanical dalek voice they were so accustomed to. "I am a human dalek. I am your future."

The Doctor started to edge away from Kath who seemed to pick up on his plan. She kept the dalek's attention on her, streaming questions at it, irritating Dalek Sec.

The Doctor searched for something, anything, he could use to get everyone safely out of the lab. He came across a vintage radio. Er, maybe not vintage. They were in the 1930's after all. Picking up he had an idea. He turned the radio onto some music.

Dalek Sec immediately shifted his attention towards the sound. "What is that?"

"Ah, well, that would be me," the Doctor said, stepping out and holding up the radio. "Hello. Surprise. Boo! Et cetera."

Dalek Sec hissed at him. "Doctor. Enemy of the daleks." He stopped them as the other daleks moved to exterminate the Doctor. "No. Wait," he commanded the others.

This new creature was something interesting indeed. The other daleks had no interest in anything but the Doctor's destruction, just as he would expect. But Dalek Sec stopped them. For what end, the Doctor wondered.

"The Cult of Skaro escaped your slaughter," Dalek Sec told him.

Anger boiled within the Doctor. Torchwood. The Battle of Canary Wharf. The day he lost Rose. She had given her life to ensure all of the daleks and cybermen were sucked into the void. It had only been Pete's perfectly timed parallel world jump that had saved her from joining them. But she was left trapped.

It was these daleks, the Cult of Skaro that had done that, triggered the events that would lead to his loss of Rose. Kath looked at him, concern etching her features. The Doctor buried his anger deep down. "Well then. A new form of dalek. How'd you end up in the 1930's, anyway?" He attempted to sound casual.

"Emergency temporal shift."

"Oh, I see. Burned up your power cells, didn't you? Could've conquered the world, eh? Instead you're sulking in the dark. Experimenting. Resulting in _you_."

"I am a dalek in human form," the creature informed him.

"What does it _feel_ like, Dalek Sec? It is Dalek Sec, isn't it? You've got a name and a mind of your own… Tell me, what are you thinking now?" the Doctor asked him. A dalek that could feel and think for itself. Such a thing was unheard of to him. The daleks had always been cold blooded and single minded in their pursuit of purging the universe of all beings they deemed lesser than them, which was anything non-dalek. A dalek with human feelings, that he could exploit.

Dalek Sec turned from him in shame, remorse, pride, disgust; the Doctor did not know. "I feel humanity. Everything we wanted from humanity: Ambition, hatred, aggression, and war. Such a genius for war. At it's heart, this species is so very dalek."

The Doctor shook his head sadly. "No, mate, you've got it wrong. Because that's not what humanity means. And, I can show it to you with this simple little radio."

"And what is this device's purpose?" Dalek Sec asked in disdain.

"It plays music." The Doctor held up the radio. "What's the purpose of that, eh? Well, let me explain. See music you can dance to, sing with, fall in love to." Such concepts his age old enemies could never possibly understand. "Unless if you're a dalek. And then music, well, music is just noise."

He aimed his screwdriver at the radio causing it to blare to life. The daleks and pigmen all reacted to the shrieking noise, all shying away. "Kath!" the Doctor yelled to his companion. "Get everyone out of here! Run!"

"I'm not leaving you!"

"Get them to safety. Please," he asked of her.

The Doctor knew Kath would not want to leave him with such an enemy but knew that would only hurt him worse if innocents were caught in the crossfire. With a curt nod she ushered the others away, back towards the tunnels. The Doctor hid within the lab to see if he could discover more of their plans as the rest of the Cult of Skaro screamed to protect the hybrid, Dalek Sec.

* * *

Kath pulled out a map on her info-tab. Once she got the others safely back to the entrance she started calling out orders, telling them to get out of Hooverville if at all possible, protect each other and their families. Once she was sure they had listened and were on their way she raced back down again, following her map.

She hated leaving the Doctor down there. Daleks frightened her because of what she'd seen. And that _thing_. A human-dalek hybrid? The thought of it made her sick.

The Cult of Skaro. The Doctor had reacted to that. More than just age old enemies, something about this group was personal to him. Kath wasn't sure what it was but she wouldn't leave him to it for long.

She raced the couple miles back to where they had been but the lab was empty. Cautiously she followed deeper in and found yet another lab, one much larger than before. Checking her info-tab she breathed in surprise. They were directly beneath the Empire State Building construction now. Well, she had wanted to see it after all.

Kath heard the Doctor's voice. "What do you want me for?"

She spied them around the corner. The Doctor was chatting almost casually with the daleks, seeming completely in control of the situation as always.

Dalek Sec hedged around the Doctor's question. "We tried everything to survive when we found ourselves stranded in this ignorant age. We tried growing new dalek embryos, but their flesh was too weak." That must have been the glowy squid thing the Doctor had found. "It forced us to conclude what is the greatest resource on this planet. Its people."

The Dalek-human hybrid threw a switch and the entire lab was suddenly illuminated. Floating above them on hundreds of stretchers were… bodies. Kath shivered, still hiding in the shadows, listening to the old warriors before her talk.

"The missing people, I presume," the Doctor said, his voice icey.

"We stole them. For our purpose. Look inside," Dalek Sec instructed the Doctor.

He flipped the covers back from the nearest patient's face. Something Kath couldn't name crossed the Doctor's face. "Is he dead?"

"Near dead with his mind wiped, ready to receive new ideas."

"Dalek ideas," the Doctor said quietly.

"The Human Dalek race," Dalek Sec said smugly.

It was in that moment Kath began to appreciate the true extent of this dalek's insanity. This would be an abomination to the dalek leaders. It would never be allowed to stand.

"How many?"

"There are thousands. More stored in the caverns. Everything human about them wiped clean."

"So they're shells," the Doctor said. "Empty shells ready to be converted. That's a helluva lot of power. How do you intend to manage that? This planet hasn't even split the atom!"

"Conductor!" Dalek Sec turned to a screen showing the Empire State Building.

"We're just below it. So?" the Doctor said.

"I am the genetic template. My altered DNA has to be administered to each human body. A strong enough blast of gamma radiation can splice the human and dalek genetic codes. Waken each body from it's sleep."

"Gamma radiation," Kath saw the Doctor working it out. "You're using the sun and the building as a conductor. I still don't see what you need me for," he finished.

"Your genius," Dalek Sec nearly purred. "Pure dalek, intelligent but emotionless."

"Removing the emotions makes you stronger," the Doctor recited. "At least that's what your creator thought all those years ago."

"He was wrong," Dalek Sec said. Kath could see the Doctor start in surprise. She was shocked, too. This was pure heresy for a dalek. "We must return to the flesh and also the heart."

"But that would make you supreme beings no longer," the Doctor said, confused.

"Daleks are supreme!" one of the other daleks in the room screamed.

"No, not anymore," Dalek Sec said, almost tiredly. "What has this quest for supremacy gotten us? It is time we evolved, adapted, changed."

"So you want to change everything that makes a dalek… a dalek," the Doctor said.

Dalek Sec nodded. "If you can help me. Your knowledge of genetic engineering is even greater than ours. The new race must be ready for when the solar flare erupts."

The Doctor turned to the other daleks. "And you are just okay with this?"

"We must obey! Obey!" one of the daleks responded.

"And, then what?" the Doctor asked Dalek Sec.

"You have your TARDIS. Find us a new world where the daleks can start again. The solar flare is in eleven minutes, Doctor."

"Right then," the Doctor said pulling on his specs. "Better get started."

Kath blew out a breath watching the Doctor and Dalek Sec discuss different feeds and the best way to fix the gene splicing problem. She hardly dared to believe they were working together. Did this dalek truly mean to simply make a new life for his people far away from the Earth? It sounded noble but she was leery to trust it.

"Here we go! Do you have that genetic feed?" Dalek Sec inserted it but after only moments klaxons began to sound throughout the complex. "What have you done?" he yelled to the Doctor.

"It wasn't me! I haven't done anything," he said sincerely. They both looked to the daleks around them. "They're overriding the gene feed!"

The daleks raised their weapons to the Doctor. "You will step away from the controls."

"Stop!" Dalek Sec shouted. "You will not fire!"

"You no longer have authority. You are no longer a dalek. The bodies will be one hundred percent dalek. Restrain them."

A pig slave moved towards the Doctor but before it could get to him Kath finally broke cover and intercepted, tackling it to the ground. She grabbed the Doctor's hand. "Let's get to the lift."

"Good to see you!" the Doctor said happily as one of the daleks ordered the pig-men after them. They headed to the top of the building. Upon arriving, they saw the mast which had the bits of dalek attached. "Blimey that's high," the Doctor complained. "I'm heading up there."

"What? No you're not!" Kath told him.

The Doctor looked grim. "You need to hold them off."

Kath looked behind her and saw the pig-men coming out of the lift as the Doctor began to climb. She didn't wish to hurt any of them but they would try to kill her, no longer the humans they had once been.

A huge storm was brewing in the sky around them. The last place Kath wanted to be was atop a tall building. "Doctor, lightning!" she pointed to the roiling sky as he was pulling off the dalek panels.

Kath threw herself at the nearest pig-man, shoving him back into the others. Before they can react, she forced the grating closed on the elevator. Grabbing her sonic off her boot, Kath used the device to seal them in.

The lightning was going to hit irregardless now. Murder. That's what she was about to commit. She had no other ideas. Kath pulled a cable hanging down from the mast and attached it to the grating of the elevator.

Stepping as far away from all of it, Kath went as far as she can on the roof, grateful for the rubber tread. The Doctor was still on the mast, she realized. In horror, Kath watched the brilliant flash of lightning hit the mast, flowed through the ancient Time Lord, down the cable and zapped the pig-men.

"Doctor!" she screamed. Kath ran to his side where he lay very still. Feeling for his pulse, she was amazed to find his hearts still working.

He coughed and groaned. "Oh, my head."

"You stupid Time Lord!" she raged at him.

"Oi," he groaned again. "The gamma strike went zapping through me first."

"Yeah, I noticed!"

"We need to draw the daleks out in the open. I need to face them. Come on," he directed as Kath pulled him to his feet. They grabbed the service lift now, heading to street level.

The Doctor held his sonic high above his head. Kath looked at him quizzically. "The daleks are about to go to war. I'm informing them where their number one enemy is.

Within minutes, hundreds of zombie-like humans marched down the street towards them. Humans with dalek DNA. And weapons. "Uh, Doctor?"

"It's fine. Just stay calm. Don't antagonize them in any way."

"Right," she breathed.

An explosion sounded off to their right. Two daleks appeared with Dalek Sec in chains on all fours like a dog. Kath gasped. What did they do to him?

* * *

Anger coursed through the Doctor's tired limbs as he watched the daleks bear down on him and Kath. "You will die Doctor. Planet Earth will become the new Skaro!" one of the daleks screamed. They were always screaming.

"Oh and what a world!" the Doctor spat. "With anything just the slightest bit different ground into the dirt. That's Dalek Sec, don't you remember? Look what you've done to him. Is that your new empire, then? Is this the foundation for a whole new civilization?"

"My daleks, just understand this," Dalek Sec pleaded. "If you choose death and destruction then death and destruction will choose you."

The dominating dalek said, "Incorrect. We will always survive. And, now we will destroy our greatest enemy, the Doctor." It raised it's weapon. Kath unsheathed the sword and held it protectively in front of them.

"No! He can help you!" Dalek Sec screamed.

The dalek fired at the Doctor. He prepared himself for the shot, that blaze of energy that would simultaneously stop both his hearts. It never came. Dalek Sec threw himself in the way of the blast, saving his life.

Never would he have imagined a dalek in any form would give its life for his. Remorse cut through him as his eyes flashed to the offending creature. "Your own leader. The only creature who might have led you out of darkness and you destroyed him! You see what they did? You see what a dalek really is?!" The Doctor let out a breath through his nose. "If I'm going to die, why not give the new boys a shot, eh? The Dalek Humans."

Apparently the dalek found this an excellent suggestion. "Dalek Humans, take aim." As one the horde of zombie-like humans raised their weapons. "Exterminate!"

Nothing. Not a single one did anything more. "Exterminate!" the dalek screamed again.

Still nothing happened. Kath turned to him. "What'd you do?"

The Doctor recognized Diagoras, the foreman offering them work earlier in the day, among the horde. He speaks up. "You are not our master. We are not daleks."

"And you never will be," the Doctor said. "I might've gotten in the way of that lightning strike. A little bit of Time Lord DNA in the mix. Just a little bit of freedom."

"If they will not obey, then they must die." The daleks begin shooting down their creations.

Kath swung a quick arc, bringing the blade of the sword through one dalek, exposing the squid-like creature inside. The weapon did exactly as it was designed to do, cut straight through the metal shell without damaging the organic inside. Before Kath could do anything more, one of the Dalek Humans shot it. Dead.

The hybrids manage to take out the other dalek. "Woah woah!" the Doctor yelled, holding up his hands. "You can stop now. You're free."

Before they could even move another inch the Dalek Humans clutched their heads and double over in pain. "What's happening!" Kath yelled, running over to one. "He- they're dead. Doctor… they're all dead."

The Doctor growled in frustration. "There is still one dalek left." He raced back to the laboratory. There was always one! Ever his enemies would haunt his every step. Would he never be free?

They made their way back into the lab to see the lone dalek still standing there. "Genocide," the Doctor growled. "You killed an entire species."

"Exterminate!" the dalek yelled.

"No," the Doctor said, his tone dangerously low. "You're going to listen to me. What was your name?"

"Dalek Caan."

"Dalek Caan, then," the Doctor said. "Your entire species as been wiped out. And now the Cult of Skaro has been eradicated, leaving only you. Right now you're facing the only man in the universe who might show you some compassion. Because I've just seen one genocide and I won't cause another. Caan, let me help you. What do you say?"

Kath looked at him like he might be insane. Maybe he was. But, he just couldn't do it. Could not keep killing, destroying every last piece of history there was, every species. Too many had been hurt during that ageless war. It was time for it to end.

The Doctor looked at Dalek Caan. He really should not have been surprised when the dalek screamed, "Emergency temporal shift!" Yet still, some part of the Doctor broke as that dalek disappeared.

Kath started forward, but there was nothing she could do. She returned the sword to sheath on her back. "Let's get back to the TARDIS. There's nothing we can do now," he said quietly.

The girl scanned the area with her info-tab, but shook her head at the readings before slipping it back into her pocket. The Doctor caught the circular Gallifreyan on the device again. "Archive."

Kath's head snapped up. He looked into her eyes as they made their way back down the street away from the lab. "Archive," he said again. "It wasn't just a legend was it?"

"What makes you say that?" Kath hedged.

"The fear in your eyes when you saw those daleks."

"Anyone in their right mind would fear a dalek," she told him.

He shook his head. "Yes. But, there was more. You recognized them. They were in your fears on your dying TARDIS. You see an ageless and feared enemy when you look at them." They stopped as they arrived at their ship. He slipped the key in and looked to her. "Archive healed countless Time Lords during the Time War. Yet it was said she may not have even been a Time Lord herself."

Kath's shoulders dropped and she pushed her way into the TARDIS. "I didn't save enough," she whispered.

"You were there. You fought in the Time War," the Doctor stated.

Pain laced Kath's expression. "One hundred and seventy-five years I fought in that war. Half my life. I learned to heal Time Lords. Oh, they knew I wasn't one of your people. I slipped away before they could even mention having met me." A far away look took Kath's eyes. "It was never enough. For every Time Lord I saved, how many countless more died? I fought them, sword in hand, and with a gun when I had one. So many daleks. They sky filled with them."

She shivered. The Doctor pulled the girl into a hug as she let out a shuddering breath. This was really the infamous Archive? He remembered her healing him only a couple weeks prior. Yes, he could believe it. He had already seen her cool precision, her bravery. The Doctor only wished it weren't true because he would have rather her be spared the pain of that war.

Kath looked into his eyes. "Do you think we'll see Dalek Caan again?"

The Doctor looked down at her. "Oh, yes. One day."


End file.
